The group stage of the Esports World Cup 2025 for Dota 2 will kick off on July 8.

In the first phase of the tournament, 16 teams are divided into 4 groups, where each team will face every other team in a best-of-2 series.

Following the group stage, the top team from each group will advance directly to the playoffs. The second-place teams will start from the second round of the Elimination Phase, while all remaining teams will begin from the first round of the Elimination Phase.

<h4>Schedule for July 8</h4>
<ul>
 <li><a href="/esports/match/xtreme-gaming-vs-team-spirit-08-07">Spirit vs Xtreme</a> — 11:00 CEST</li>
 <li><a href="/esports/match/talon-esports-vs-natus-vincere-08-07">NAVI vs Talon</a> — 11:00 CEST</li>
 <li><a href="/esports/match/gaimin-gladiators-vs-bb-team-08-07">BB Team vs Gladiators</a> — 13:30 CEST</li>
 <li><a href="/esports/match/team-falcons-vs-execration-08-07">Falcons vs Execration</a> — 13:30 CEST</li>
 <li><a href="/esports/match/tundra-esports-vs-virtus-pro-08-07">Virtus.pro vs Tundra</a> — 16:00 CEST</li>
 <li><a href="/esports/match/cyber-goose-vs-aurora-gaming-08-07">Team Yandex vs Aurora</a> — 16:00 CEST</li>
 <li><a href="/esports/match/team-heroic-vs-parivision-08-07">PARIVISION vs Heroic</a> — 18:30 CEST</li>
 <li><a href="/esports/match/team-liquid-vs-shopify-rebellion-08-07">Liquid vs Shopify Rebellion</a> — 18:30 CEST</li>
</ul>

EWC 2025 Schedule. Group Stage. July 8

Team Spirit has officially announced the signing of zweih. The 17-year-old player joins the active roster, replacing magixx, who has been moved to the bench. zweih spent the last year with Nemiga, where he helped the team achieve notable results in online competitions — including reaching the finals of the ESL Challenger League and winning the Hellcase Cup. In the fall of 2024, he became Nemiga’s top performer at the RES Regional Champions LAN tournament. In 2025, zweih firmly established himself as Nemiga’s leading player, delivering impressive performances at BLAST Bounty S1 and ESL Pro League Stage 1. He also shined at the Austin Major, where Nemiga made a surprising run to Stage 3. The updated Team Spirit roster now includes chopper, sh1ro, zont1x, donk, and zweih. hally remains the team’s coach. The squad’s debut tournament will be Intel Extreme Masters Cologne 2025, set to take place from July 23 to August 3.

Team Spirit benches magixx and signs zweih

Falcons have announced the launch of a new academy project called Falcons Force. The team will be led by Danish coach NaToSaphiX, who previously coached the women’s roster NIP Impact. After short playing stints with teams such as Sprout, HEROIC, and Complexity, NaToSaphiX ended his player career and transitioned into coaching in March 2024. Under his guidance, NIP Impact reached the ESL Impact League Finals for the first time in Season 6, finishing in the 5th–6th position, and later advanced to the semi-finals in Season 7. He is now tasked with building Falcons Force from scratch — a project focused on developing young talents and preparing them for the biggest stages in competitive esports. The academy aims to become a launching pad for ambitious players ready to grow professionally. Falcons have already opened applications for aspiring players. The next phases will include scouting tournaments followed by a final evaluation stage, after which the team’s core lineup will be finalized.

Falcons Launch Academy Team Falcons Force

FURIA has officially announced the signing of YEKINDAR. Previously, he was playing for the team on loan from Liquid, but after a successful two-month trial, both parties have agreed on a contract that will run until the summer of 2027. The Latvian rifler played with the team at PGL Astana and Austin Major, where he showcased excellent form, finishing the tournament with a 1.26 rating — one of the best in his career in recent years. YEKINDAR also played a key role in helping the young AWPer molodoy adapt, assisting him with the transition to the new system and improving communication in English. FURIA will kick off the new season at the FISSURE Playground 1 tournament in Belgrade, scheduled for July 15–20. Later in the month, the team will also compete in IEM Cologne, starting from the Play-In stage.

YEKINDAR officially joins FURIA

Ukrainian coach Sergey "lmbt" Bezhanov is once again part of the MOUZ organization, taking on the role of head coach for their academy team, MOUZ NXT. This marks his return after a six-year absence since his previous stint with the team from 2016 to 2019, during which he helped the squad secure four titles. In a statement on platform X, lmbt shared his excitement about coming back to the club and immediately outlined his priority — finding a young in-game leader for the future roster. He stressed that he is looking for an ambitious player ready to take on a big responsibility early in their career with a renowned organization. Since leaving MOUZ in 2019, lmbt has coached several notable teams, including HellRaisers, TITANS, Monte, and Inner Circle. However, aside from Monte’s victory at ESL Challenger Jönköping 2023, his squads have struggled to find consistent success. At the time of lmbt’s appointment, only one active player remained on the MOUZ NXT roster — Hungarian player xelex. The academy team last played an official match in September 2024, and three players departed earlier this year.

lmbt Returns to MOUZ as Academy Coach

Esports tournament organizer ESL has unveiled a renewed competitive structure for Dota 2 under the ESL Pro Tour (EPT) for the 2025/2026 season. The main highlight is the launch of DreamLeague Division 2, a new league for tier-2 teams. It will be integrated into the larger tournament system, which also includes three DreamLeague seasons and the flagship spring championship ESL One. The new ecosystem follows a "funnel" principle: a large number of teams start the season, but only the strongest make it to the final stages. This format aims to filter out top-tier players for the tier-1 scene while simultaneously fostering new talent. Michael Van Driel, Vice President of Ecosystems for Dota 2 and CS2 at ESL, emphasized that the company’s goal is to build a vibrant and sustainable system that supports players at all levels. DreamLeague Division 2 will be held in Europe and feature four tournaments throughout the season. The total prize pool will be $200,000, and the winners will have a chance to qualify for tier-1 events through the ESL Pro Tour qualifiers.

ESL to Launch New League for Tier-2 Dota 2 Teams

Valve has released updated information regarding invite distribution for the upcoming StarLadder Budapest Major. The decision was made based on the results of the BLAST.tv Austin Major. According to the new rules, Europe will receive five direct invites to both Stage 2 and Stage 3, while the Americas will receive two, and Asia one. This means that Europe has lost one Stage 3 slot in favor of the Americas: both paiN and FURIA made it to the top 8 at the Austin Major. Meanwhile, in Stage 2, Europe and Asia have each gained one slot at the expense of the Americas. As for Stage 1, the allocation of 16 invites is currently listed as TBD (to be determined), suggesting a possible change from the previous 6/6/4 format (Europe/Americas/Asia). Valve appears to be continuing its effort to adapt the system to reflect the current performance of the regions. Another important addition to the rulebook states that teams will no longer be allowed to change their core lineup after receiving an invite. The five players registered at the time of submission will be considered the "core," and only one substitute player may be registered, provided that their inclusion does not affect the team’s regional affiliation.

Valve updates invite allocation for the next Major

Natus Vincere have officially announced the promotion of 18-year-old player makazze from the NAVI Junior squad to the main team. The organization has not yet disclosed which main roster member he will replace. makazze has been one of the academy’s brightest stars over the past two years, posting an impressive 1.19 average rating over the last 12 months and helping the team break into the top 30 of Valve’s regional rankings. Alongside this promotion, NAVI also revealed that they are seeking a buyer for the remaining four players of the NAVI Junior lineup, along with coach coolio. The club cited limitations within the CS ecosystem as a barrier to further developing the academy under the NAVI banner. Despite the sale, NAVI plans to assemble a new NAVI Junior roster in the future.

18-year-old makazze promoted to NAVI’s main roster from NAVI Junior

HEROIC have announced the completion of their CS2 lineup: nilo has rejoined the main roster after spending six months on the bench. Earlier this year, nilo transferred to HEROIC from Metizport but didn’t play a single official match due to personal circumstances. nilo’s return comes at a time of another roster rebuild for HEROIC. The team recently lost two key figures — SunPayus and coach sAw — who transferred to G2. Turkish player xfl0ud was also benched, and nilo steps in as his replacement. The lineup had already been strengthened by the addition of young AWPer gr1ks and new coach TOBIZ, formerly of MOUZ NXT. As a result, HEROIC’s current roster consists of: LNZ, yxngstxr, tN1R, gr1ks, and nilo. The team’s first tournament with the updated roster will be FISSURE Playground #1, kicking off on July 15.

nilo returns to HEROIC’s main roster

Heroic has announced changes to its Counter-Strike roster. The team’s new sniper is 19-year-old gr1ks, who replaces SunPayus. As a reminder, SunPayus recently transferred to G2 Esports. As a result, Heroic’s current roster consists of four players: tN1R, gr1ks, yxngstxr, LNZ, and one more player yet to be revealed. The team’s coach is TOBIZ. Their first tournament with the updated roster will be FISSURE Playground, scheduled to take place in Belgrade from July 15 to 20. The tournament will feature a $450,000 prize pool.

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