NA Dota will make its grand return in 2025 as ESL heads to the northeast.

Patient Dota 2 fans in North America, who have been missing LAN events in MOBA, will be rewarded in 2025 when ESL announces its return to the region with ESL One Raleigh kicking off in mid-April .

It's been a decade since ESL brought North America a Dota 2 event, where Vega Squadron beat Team Secret to win ESL One New York. After 3,342 days, organizers have revealed the North Carolina capital as the venue for one of ESL's top Dota 2 calendar events next year.

The drought for live NA Dota is over

It's not just the ESL drought that will end for Raleigh next April. With the exception of The International's return to Seattle in 2023, only one tournament has taken place in North America since the COVID pandemic in 2020 and 2021.

The PGL Arlington Major, won by Team Spirit, was the only offline event held in the region in the past five years. It is also one of two non-TI LANs held in the region in the past five years (the other being Beyond The Summit's DOTA Summit 12 — classified as a tier two event — took place in Los Angeles) .

ESL had planned to return to North America with ESL One Los Angeles in 2020 before the pandemic forced the event's cancellation.

This isn't the main reason, but the lack of offline competition in North America has definitely decreased interest in Dota 2 across the US and Canada over the past few years. Nouns' departure earlier this month means that only Shopify Rebellion remains as the only North American-based organization still in Dota's upper echelons.

With no big names to cheer for and a lack of competition outside of the now defunct DPC, the death of Dota in NA was foretold. But now, a glimmer of hope for a revival is emerging thanks to ESL One Raleigh. 

Wait, Raleigh isn't in Europe! (Photo via ESL)

The 12 strongest teams ranked by ESL in the Pro Tour rankings will receive a direct invitation to Raleigh next April, where the champion will win the majority of the million-dollar prize and crucial EPT points.

The Raleigh Convention Center is no stranger to hosting esports tournaments. This location is the main location for the Call of Duty League Major in 2022 and many Halo Championship Series events over the years.

Interestingly, ESL's official schedule for 2025 lists Raleigh as the "ESL One Europe" event. This graphic was circulated around May when ESL first revealed the 2025 Dota 2 calendar.

Later this year, we'll see another ESL One event take place in Asia, but beyond that, the organizer appears to be skipping Europe — with the exception of online DreamLeague seasons held at a central studio. center but is streamed online.