Gaimin Gladiators wins Bali Major, ends perfect season

William Davis Published 09/07/2023

With one more trophy at the Bali Major, Gaimin Gladiators has become the first Dota 2 team to win every major championship in a full season.

After a dominant run through the entire event, GG has claimed its third major championship of this year’s Dota Pro Circuit. This marks the first perfect season for any Dota 2 team in history. The squad’s upper-bracket run has also cemented it as the absolute favorite for The International 2023.

GG started off somewhat slow compared to previous majors, going 10-6 in the group stage. The squad even dropped a full series to BetBoom, its strongest rival from Eastern Europe. However, the team tightened up for playoffs, defeating Team Aster and Quest Esports before an unlikely meeting with Tundra in the winner’s finals. After 2-0ing the defending TI champion, the Gladiators decisively won the grand final over Team Liquid 3-1.

The MVP for the tournament is hard to determine, with supports Erik “tOfu” Engel and Melchior “Seleri” Hillenkamp both putting on high-impact performances. Mid laner Quinn Callahan averaged 7.61 kills with a wide hero pool, often turning team fights around with a grand entrance. The team’s skills are evenly spread, and combined with their insane season, GG could close off the most dominant season in history with a good showing at The International 2023.

Gaimin Gladiators becomes first team to win every major at Bali

With the Bali Major in the bag, Gaimin Gladiators has become the first team to win every major in a single DPC season.

Despite the massive switch to patch 7.33 after the Lima Major, the squad continued to run rampant at the Berlin Major, losing just nine games in both events combined. The team also lost nine total games in Bali, making it somehow its least-dominant championship run. Notably, GG faced Team Liquid as its opponent in the grand finals and won 3-1 at each major. That makes the fellow European juggernaut a clear second favorite for TI.

While GG is the first to win all three in the same season, the squad is not the first to win three consecutive majors. That honor belongs to OG, which won the Manila, Boston, and Kiev Majors in 2016 and 2017. However, the squad performed poorly at The International 2016 after Manila, going out in 9th place in an infamous upset from TNC Predator.

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