DreamLeague Season 27 Power Rankings — The best teams

Can’t turn in for the holidays just yet, Dota 2 fans — DreamLeague Season 27 is just around the corner to ring in the season. A whopping 24 teams will play in an online tournament spanning nearly two weeks, with $1 million to play for.

As is tradition, it’s time to see how each squad stacks up against the rest. Here are the DreamLeague Season 27 power rankings!

DreamLeague Season 27 Power Rankings
Team Name	Region	Power Ranking
Tundra Esports	WEU	1st
Team Falcons	WEU	2nd
MOUZ	WEU	3rd
Team Spirit	EEU	4th
Team Liquid	WEU	5th
Team Yandex	EEU	6th
BetBoom Team	EEU	7th
PARIVISION	EEU	8th
OG	SEA	9th
Natus Vincere	EEU	10th
Aurora Gaming	EEU	11th
Xtreme Gaming	CN	12th
Team Tidebound	CN	13th
HEROIC	SA	14th
Yakult Brothers	CN	15th
Nigma Galaxy	WEU	16th
Virtus.pro	WEU	17th
Ex-BOOM Esports	SEA	18th
GamerLegion	NA	19th
1w Team	EEU	20th
Runa Team	EEU	21st
Pipsqueak+4	EEU/WEU	22nd
Passion UA	EEU	23rd
Amaru Gaming	SA	24th

#1 — Tundra Esports

What can I say? Four straight BLAST Slam titles is an absolutely ridiculous feat, and Tundra Esports did it without breaking a sweat in Chengdu. Bozhidar “bzm” Bogdanov can have his off games, but right now, he’s got his mojo back and it showed in the BLAST Slam 4 grand finals against Team Yandex.

This squad just seems unstoppable right now. They’ve won two out of the first three major LANs of the season, and they’re oozing with talent at every role. They might not be guaranteed to win every tournament they show up to, but I’ll be damned if I said they aren’t best positioned to win each one.

#2 — Team Falcons

The defending International champions took a huge tumble at BLAST Slam 4, getting completely punked by Team Yandex and failing to win even a single map in the playoffs after going 10-1 in the group stage. They just didn’t look as locked in as they usually are in that series, and with no second chances in the BLAST Slam format, they got sent packing shockingly early.

Despite the setback in Chengdu, I’d be insane to suggest that this result somehow means that they’re no longer one of the best teams in the world. They’re going to have to wake themselves up and stop the drafting shenanigans if they want to succeed at DreamLeague Season 27 — so I’d better not see any more traditional mid picks like Storm Spirit moving forward.

#3 — MOUZ

The PGL Wallachia Season 6 champions definitely would have liked a better result at BLAST Slam 4, but honestly, the format just doesn’t suit a team like this. They’re really damn good, but they are prone to tilting and being inconsistent at times.

Now that they’re back in a double elimination tournament, though, I can see them making a deep run at DreamLeague Season 27. If they’re all on point, and Miroslav “BOOM” Bičan can get his hands on Timbersaw every now and again, I foresee them making the top 4.

#4 — Team Spirit

While they’re still very much capable of winning any tournament at any time, Team Spirit did slip at BLAST Slam 4. They lost to a MOUZ team that, at the time, wasn’t nearly as strong or solid as they are now.

They made up for it by making it all the way to the grand finals of PGL Wallachia Season 6 — where they ran into MOUZ once more and lost in five games. Starting to see a pattern here? MOUZ just seem to have this team’s number in particular, and it seems like they’re able to take Spirit out of their usual rhythm. Hell, they even outplay them in late game scenarios sometimes, when that’s supposed to be Spirit’s domain.

Still, they’ve got the talent and success to make it through just about anyone.

#5 — Team Liquid

Liquid’s rapid improvement relative to how they started the season has been impressive to say the least. Both Marcus “Ace” Christensen and Erik “tOfu” Engel seem to have acclimated to their new environment already, and the adjustment that tOfu in particular has had to make going to the hard support position is beginning to work.

That said, I’m not ready to call them top contenders yet. They’ll have to break into a top 3 at a major tournament first before I can confidently do that, which would be par for the course for a squad this talented and experienced. They’re getting there, but DreamLeague Season 27 will be another big test for the new kids on the block.

#6 — Team Yandex

It might sound crazy to put Yandex this far down after they just came off of their first grand final appearance, but no, it really isn’t. They got demolished by Tundra in just three games, none of them looking even particularly close. It’s clear that while this team has been on the rise as of late, they’re not quite at the level where they can challenge for titles yet.

I think sixth place is just where they should be. They’re capable of pulling off enough upsets such that they reach the final round of a tournament, but lack the consistency and skill to actually win the whole thing. Worse still, DreamLeague Season 27 is double elimination, which worsens their chances of just rushing past everyone.

#7 — BetBoom Team

Fresh off of their top 4 finish at PGL Wallachia Season 6, BetBoom Team are back once again and looking better than how they started the year. They didn’t make the playoffs at BLAST Slam 4, but got up to the grand finals of FISSURE Playground 2 before.

Ilya “Kiritych” Ulyanov has been improving steadily under his new squad, and will continue to be the x-factor for them moving forward this season. Building chemistry and confidence in such an important role with a new team takes time, but he does seem to be more than up to the task. As for the rest of the roster, they already know what it takes to win, but it will always be a matter of execution with this club in particular.

#8 — PARIVISION

PARIVISION have been somewhat of an enigma this season. They don’t look nearly as sharp as they did last year, and now that coach Filipe “Astini” Ribiero is gone, I don’t even know if they’ll have the guiding hand they need to get back to where they should be. I mean, 9th-11th at FISSURE Playground 2 and 5th-6th at PGL Wallachia Season 6 is not what this team should be aiming for.

Alan “Satanic” Gallyamov can only carry this team so far, so the others will have to step up in order to improve their results. Edgar “9class” Naltakian should maybe rein in the wacky hero picks for a little while until they stabilize, or they might end up throwing away the foundations they built for themselves last season.

#9 — OG

Oh, man. I was hoping OG would at least make the top 4 at BLAST Slam 5, but Yandex would just not be denied by anyone that weekend. Well, apart from Tundra, that is. This roster is obviously extremely talented, but they suffer from the classic Southeast Asian issues: they tend to make baffling decisions in clutch situations, and get in their own heads a lot.

They’re clearly capable of getting to the top half of most LANs, but much like BetBoom Team, execution is key for OG. They need to solve their mental problems if they want to elevate themselves beyond just the occasional top 6 appearance.

#10 — Natus Vincere

Here’s another team that’s consistent but simply less talented than the top squads. You can always count on Na’Vi to be where everyone else is at, only to hit their ceiling once the top 8 rolls around. Not to worry — this team is still very young and has plenty of potential, so they might just surprise a top tier club or two one of these days.

DreamLeague Season 27 might not be that day, however. There’s just too much firepower at the top for them to realistically make a deep run here, so I’ve got them in the upper middle segment of the pack.

The Rest

Then there’s the rest of the field, composed of teams that have fallen off quite hard since they were last in serious contention for a podium finish at a major tournament, as well as those that are just happy to be here. I’m really disappointed about HEROIC in particular, because they looked awful at BLAST Slam 5 and have had their confidence shaken.

The same goes for Xtreme Gaming, Yakult Brothers, and Team Tidebound, which doesn’t bode well at all for the Chinese competitive scene. The teams at the bottom of this list meanwhile are highly unlikely to even sniff the top 12, so I would not bother too much with them unless you’re a Nigma Galaxy or GamerLegion fan.