Team Spirit emerged victorious from DreamLeague Season 21 defeating Shopify Rebellion to secure their second Tier 1 tournament victory in the past three months.
Team Spirit has defeated Shopify Rebellion in the Grand Finals of DreamLeague Season 21, taking home $300,000 in prize money, and winning the final major tournament before The International 2021. Spirit swept the NA team in the finals 3-0, securing the victory with a statement game.
Team Spirit, who’d topped the Group Stage of DreamLeague S21, met fellow tabletoppers Shopify in both the Grand Finals and Upper Bracket Finals of this tournament. Unfortunately for Shopify, the result in both games was the same.
However, it wasn’t clean sailing for Spirit, who were pushed to their limit in game one of the series. In that 69-minute slog, Spirit found themselves pushed by Jonáš "SabeRLight-" Volek’s Beast Master and Artour "Arteezy" Babaev’s Templar Assassin. Spirit played cautiously for much of the game, careful not to allow Shopify’s two hyper carries to explode.
But if game one was a close affair that could have swung in Shopify Rebellion's favor, game two and three were decidedly more one-sided. For the remaining games, Shopify really couldn’t get anything going, finding their best heroes banned away, and little chance to shine. Despite a promising start in the series, Spirit dominated the remaining matches.
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With the win, Spirit takes home $300,000 and a lot of momentum headed into TI12. Having emerged victorious at both Riyadh Masters 2023, and now DreamLeague 21, they are likely the favorites heading into the North American event.
Shopify Rebellion have also been resurgent, and a second place finish against a stacked lineup of teams is something they’ll be able to build on. In a season where Western Europe has been the region to watch, no WEU DPC teams made it into the final three, with North America and Eastern Europe taking center stage. A thrilling end to a short but incredibly entertaining tournament.
