What is the Dota 2 ESL Pro Tour?

If you’ve ever wondered what the “EPT Points” field in the Liquipedia articles for ESL Dota 2 events is, that’s actually the ESL Pro Tour points awarded by those events. The ESL Pro Tour (EPT) puts all ESL Dota 2 tournaments under one umbrella, kind of like the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) before it was abolished by Valve Corporation in 2024.

But what is even at stake in the ESL Pro Tour? Read on to find out what world-class teams are playing for in our guide to the EPT.

What is the Point of the ESL Pro Tour?

Like I said, the ESL Pro Tour organizes ESL Dota 2 events into a single competitive circuit, with each event awarding points to squads that qualify to ESL tournaments. Every ESL event in the 2024-2025 season hands out EPT points no matter where a team finishes at the end of the competition, but naturally placing higher awards more points than finishing in the bottom four spots, for example.

These points are tallied up as the EPT season goes along. The eight teams with the highest number of points by the end of the season automatically qualify for the Esports World Cup (EWC) — which in previous years was known as the Riyadh Masters in order to refer to the Dota 2 tournament under the EWC.

This year’s Esports World Cup Dota 2 event will be held from July 8th to July 19th, and will feature a $3 million prize pool — three times the amount awarded by any given ESL event this year.

How Many Points Are Awarded in Each Event?

The number of points given out by each ESL event depends on the nature of the event, as one would expect. DreamLeague Seasons 24, 25, and 26 all give out fewer points in total compared to ESL One Bangkok and ESL One Raleigh — which is natural considering that they are all played online. The latter two events, meanwhile, are played in a LAN setting, which makes them more pressure-packed and therefore more prestigious.

But anyway, the point totals for each ESL tournament this season are as follows:

• DreamLeague Season 24: 14,600
• ESL One Bangkok: 20,940
• DreamLeague Season 25: 20,440
• ESL One Raleigh: 27,920
• DreamLeague Season 26: 29,200

Interestingly, the later the event is in the EPT Season, the more points it doles out on average. This means that squads who struggle early on in the year but hit their stride as the season goes along can still get direct invites to the Esports World Cup. Better late than never, as they always say.

Can Teams Lose EPT Points?

Yes, teams can and do lose EPT points for a number of reasons, with the most common being player transfers and roster changes. Generally speaking, clubs participating in the ESL Pro Tour can make roster changes within designated transfer windows. But if too many players are swapped out during a transfer window, ESL can still deduct points accordingly.

There are no penalties for swapping out a single player during a transfer period, but squads that change two players will lose 30 percent of their points. For example, Team Spirit lost 30 percent of their total EPT points when Illya “Raddan” Mulyarchuk and Magomed “Collapse” Khalilov returned to the active roster, replacing Alan “Satanic” Gallyamov and Abdimalik “Malik” Sailau in between DreamLeague Season 25 and ESL One Raleigh.

Should a team decide to shed three or more players though, they lose all of their points instantly. It’s important to note that EPT points are awarded to players, and not entire teams or organizations. So, suppose a team loses three players because of departures from the players’ ends. The departing players then form a new team with all three of them in the roster. They lose 30 percent of the points that they had on their previous team, and keep the remainder as they join their new squad.

Aside from player transfers, teams can also receive penalties for withdrawing from ESL events that they were previously slated to compete in. Tundra Esports most recently got hit with a 20 percent deduction for this very reason, after they announced their withdrawal from DreamLeague Season 26.

Tundra Esports have withdrawn from #DreamLeague Season 26, and have been replaced by the next eligible team from the qualifiers; NAVI Junior.

For more information, please read our blog post:https://t.co/hKWcOJrOwz

— ESL Dota2 (@ESLDota2) May 1, 2025

If you want the full details, ESL provides a copy of the current EPT rulebook on Google Drive.

Which Teams Are Leading the ESL Pro Tour?

As of May 4th, 2025, the following teams are in the top eight spots of the ESL Pro Tour leaderboard:

1. PARIVISION — 17,605 points
2. Team Spirit — 12,500 points
3. BetBoom Team — 10,670 points
4. Team Falcons — 10,185 points
5. Team Liquid — 7,890 points
6. Tundra Esports — 7,050 points
7. Virtus.pro — 2,450 points
8. AVULUS — 2,393 points

Of these teams, five have provisionally qualified for EWC 2025. These are PARIVISION, Team Spirit, BetBoom Team, Team Falcons, and Team Liquid.