ESL One Birmingham Group Stage Predictions, Picks and Odds

Michael Hassall Published March 21, 2026

ESL One Birmingham returns for the first time since 2024, bringing professional Dota 2 to the heartlands of England, as part of the largest UK esports event in history, DreamHack Birmingham.

But the main event, we’re sure you’ll agree, is the ESL One Dota 2 tournament, featuring 16 of the very best teams from around the globe in a battle to prove their mettle. With $1 million USD on the line, EPT points to book their ticket to Riyadh Masters and the Esports World Cup (EWC).

ESL One Birmingham details and format

Running from March 22 until March 29, ESL One Birmingham will see 16 teams compete for a slice of the one million dollar prize pool and EPT points. The format will span across a three-day group stage and a three day playoff featuring a live crowd in the bp pulse LIVE arena.

The Group Stage will follow a traditional best-of-two round-robin format with two groups of eight. The bottom four teams from each group will be eliminated. The top two will be seeded into the Upper Bracket, of the playoffs, and the third and fourth place teams into the Lower Bracket.

Playoffs will follow a double-elimination format with best-of-three matches. The Grand Finals will feature a best-of-five with the winner raising the ESL One Birmingham trophy.

ESL One Birmingham will be part of DreamHack Birmingham. Image Credit: ESL

How to watch ESL One Birmingham

The event will be broadcast on Twitch and YouTube.

• Twitch
• YouTube

ESL One Birmingham teams

Here are the 16 teams set to compete in ESL One Birmingham 2026:

• Team Yandex [EPT Leaderboard]
• Team Spirit [EPT Leaderboard]
• PARAVISION [EPT Leaderboard]
• Xtreme Gaming [EPT Leaderboard]
• OG [EPT Leaderboard]
• Tundra Esports [EPT Leaderboard]
• Team Falcons [Western Europe Qualifier]
• Virtus.Pro [Western Europe Qualifier]
• Nigma Galaxy [Western Europe Qualifier]
• MOUZ [Western Europe Qualifier]
• BetBoom Team [Eastern Europe Qualifier]
• Aurora Gaming [Eastern Europe Qualifier]
• REKONIX [Southeast Asia Qualifier]
• GamerLegion [North America Qualifier]
• paiN Gaming [South Asia Qualifier]
• Yakult Brothers [China Regional Slot]

ESL One Birmingham picks

There’s a lot of teams to keep an eye on at ESL One Birmingham, but here are our top picks:

• Team Falcons are definitely a stack to keep an eye on at this tournament. The reigning ESL One Birmingham champions have underperformed the majority of 2026, but definitely have a chip on their shoulder headed into this event. The post-TI victory malaise might just have worn off, and with time to adjust to a patch, expect a high finish and some clear victories from these guys.
• With no Team Liquid to challenge them, and still no stand-ins, Team Yandex should run wild at this tournament. They’re a dangerous, talented, methodical team with explosive talent.
• Tundra Esports are our favorites to win it all. Besides having one of the most talented rosters in all of Dota 2, they’re also going to have the crowd on their side with the only Brit in the tournament, Matthew “Ari” Walker. If this team gets to the playoffs, they’re going to be incredibly dangerous.
• BetBoom Team are another incredibly talented team that’s headed to ESL with a full roster despite initial concerns about visas. With that in mind, they have the potential to make a deep run in the playoffs, especially given that they’re been in contention for the majority of the top-tier events this season.

Image Credit: ESL

Betting Tips

If you’re looking to wager on ESL One Birmingham, then we’ve got some good tips. Overall, we’d advise to diversify your bets beyond just simple win-loss.

• On matchups where there’s an obvious favorite, betting on which team will get first blood, or even a pre-five-minute FB can be lucrative.
• Expand your parlays with prop bets on elements with more data, such as match time and kill count. These figures stay around a reasonable average for most games.
• You can supercharge a parlay with a coin-flip prediction like which side a Rune will spawn, and what Rune it will be. For example: Top-side Regen Rune prediction has been as high as a 42.00 return in some markets.

Featured Image Credit: ESL