Mid-Tourney Preview: Who Will Win The Lima Major?

The Lima Major has entered the playoffs stage and only 12 teams are left in the race. All of them are strong but there are two or three that look much stronger than the rest.

Unfortunately for the fans, both China and Southeast Asia already lost two participants in the group stage. Knights, EHOME, Execration, and Geek Slate encountered huge difficulties against competitors from Europe and America. And with the exception of Geek Slate, they didn’t win a single match.

The Lima Major Favorites

The three teams that are likely to win the Lima Major are Team Liquid, Team Spirit, and Gaimin Gladiators. All of them played well in the first stage of the tournament and should easily finish in the top 6. One of them is almost certainly going to win the tournament.

Team Liquid

https://twitter.com/TeamLiquid/status/1630206870161088512

At this point, Liquid look unbeatable. Perhaps Talon Esports can prove us wrong, but it is hard to bet against them. Just as we expected, Michal “Nisha” Jankowski and his crew repeated their regional performance in front of South American fans.

The start was a bit rusty, but everything that followed made Liquid fans cheer for their team the way they did back in 2017, when Kuro “KuroKy” Takhasomi was winning The International.

Liquid didn’t lose a single match in the group stage and finished with a record of 6 W – 2 D – 0 L. This was by far the best performance of any team for this stage of the Lima Major.

Team Spirit

Team Spirit won The International 2021 with their current roster. Only one player has been changed since then and it’s clear that the strength of the squad has been preserved almost completely.

In Tour 1 of Dota Pro Circuit 2023, Spirit finished 2nd in Eastern Europe and only lost one match, against BetBoom Team. Unfortunately for BetBoom, their run at this Major was a complete disaster: 1 W – 4 D – 3 L. Spirit did much better than them: 4 W – 3 D – 1 L. For the playoffs, they are certainly among the favorites.

Gaimin Gladiators

https://twitter.com/GaiminGladiator/status/1630583521495400448

Gladiators won group A with a record of 4 W – 3 D – 1 L. They also finished Tour 1 in 2nd place in Western Europe. These results clearly put them among the favorites. If they manage to beat Team Aster in their first upper bracket match, they’re very likely to reach the upper bracket Final.

Aster already lost two matches in the group stage and drew four times, which means they’re not as strong as people think. At the very least, they’re not the same team that finished 2nd at The International 2022.