Dota 2 has a new dynasty forming, with Gaimin Gladiators claiming their fourth-straight Major title at DreamLeague Season 20. This is the team’s second consecutive DL title to pair with two Major wins on the Dota Pro Circuit.
Gaimin’s run at DL20 continues their ongoing trend of swapping which side of the bracket during each of their four big victories—coming out of the loser’s side and beating BetBoom Team in a tight 3-2 finals.
Their previous victory at the Berlin Major, which was another ESL-run event, was done through the winner’s side, while the Quinn-led DL19 win was another lower-bracket run.
While Gaimin did end up winning, in the end, BetBoom was the team that gave Dota’s modern top squad the most trouble through the event. In three meetings prior to the grand finals, BetBoom walked away victorious each time.
In the opening groups, BetBoom beat them 2-0 and followed that with a 2-1 win in the second group stage. When it came down to tiebreakers to see which would make it into the playoff’s upper bracket, BetBoom unleashed the Primal Beast to sweep them again.
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In a post-game interview, Quinn said it took Gaimin some time to get their footing since BetBoom was abusing their strong laning throughout the event, but the more games they were able to play the better they felt about their chances. The team experimented with their drafts a lot, especially after losing two games in a row and sitting at the edge of elimination, though Seleri still ended up playing Undying in all five games.
“That was like the meme of the whole series. I don’t know how many Decays he’s casted. ” Quinn said. “But yeah, I don’t know, what can you do? Sometimes that’s your play to play the same hero a billion times. He didn’t complain about it. He sucked it up and played the hero even though it’s not the most exciting hero. Kudos to him.”
Quinn and crew no head into the Bali Major, which begins on June 29, to clean sweep the 2023 DPC season by winning a third straight circuit Major.
BetBoom’s performance at this event was actually much more surprising than Gaimin’s win for many fans because it was the Eastern European team’s best showing of the year by far—and they were only invited because Execration couldn’t attend due to visa issues.
Since forming its “super team” lineup after The International 2022, BetBoom has managed to perform well in the DPC Regional Leagues but bombed at every Major they have attended. This second-place finish gives them a lot of momentum heading into the Bali Major, where they still have a chance to qualify directly for TI12, and they already earned a spot at the $15 million Riyadh Masters in July.
