Dota 2 history has been written at the Bali Major, with Gaimin Gladiators becoming the first team in modern Dota Pro Circuit history to clean sweep an entire season with three Major victories. Not only that but Quinn and crew hoisted their third consecutive trophy by beating Team Liquid in their third grand finals meeting, which is another record in its own right.
Entering the season after a quick rebuild centered around snagging Quinn out of North America, Gaimin quickly became the team to beat in Dota’s strongest region—Western Europe. The team has not won a single regional tour this year, but they are nearly unstoppable at LAN events.
Starting with a perfect playoff run in Lima, Gaimin’s roster won their first Major with a 3-0 sweep over a depleted Liquid lineup. The trophy case would get another addition from Berlin in May after the team went almost undefeated to claim their second consecutive title, this time over a Liquid squad playing at their peak, who took the only game off Gaimin in those playoffs.
Leading up to the Bali Major, Gaimin had no pressure on their shoulders since they had already qualified for The International this year. The team didn’t change their approach, however, and entered with the same competitive fire that they started the season with.
“We’re just enjoying the game,” dyrachyo said to Dot Esports before the event. “We are just winning our games and will try to do the same through TI. We’re going to try to win every tournament and do our best to prepare the same way we did before we were on this path. I’m not thinking about historical things or any type of curses for successful teams.”
For 2023, Gaimin now has three DPC Major titles and two DreamLeague wins, with four of those grand final victories coming over Liquid. This time around, Liquid only managed to take a single game, and Gaimin dominated the majority of the series with clean communication and timings across the board.
While Gaimin’s clean sweep is historic, OG’s 2016 lineup did win three Valve-sponsored Majors in a row before the DPC was introduced in 2017, and Team Secret put together a run in 2020 that included eight straight tournament wins along with setting the best 100-game record in Dota history.
There are still a few stops left on the calendar for Gaimin to further prove their dominance over their rivals. They will compete at Riyadh Masters 2022, which begins on July 15, before jumping back into prep for The International 12 in October. No team that has won a Major during any DPC season in the modern era has won a TI—a curse Gaimin look poised to break right now.
Published: Jul 9, 2023 10:04 am