ESL One Berlin Major 2023 review: Western European dominance and first entrant to The International
Maksym ShylovThe ESL One Berlin Major 2023, the second Major championship of the current ranking season, has come to an end. 18 teams battled it out for the $500,000 prize pool and 2,700 DPC points needed to qualify for Dota 2 International 2023, the main event of the year.
Following is a look at the Berlin LAN event, technical and organizational highlights, and a look at the teams' performance and progress in Berlin.
Location and technical implementation
Firstly we would like to talk about how ESL One Berlin Major 2023 took place in terms of organisation and technical stability. ESL, an experienced tournament operator worked on the tournament. The venue was the Velodrom arena in Berlin, Germany. On the final days of the tournament, the stadium had a full and enthusiastic crowd supporting the competitors and their favorite teams.
Unlike The Lima Major 2023, which suffered from the organizer's inexperience, ESL One Berlin Major 2023 went off without any major delays or critical problems. All that is worth noting are minor bugs in Dota 2 itself, such as with Roshan, who with the change of time of day first went to teleport to go to another lair, and then returned from it.
17th-18th place - TSM, Invictus Gaming
TSM (USA) is surely the worst team to ever take part in ESL One Berlin Major 2023. Whitemon and their teammates were drawn in Group A. There, the team failed to pick up a single win in a bo2 match, and the club finished with a 0-2-6 statistic. TSM could only draw against Execration and Evil Geniuses.
Invictus Gaming were the disappointment of China in this tournament. The Chinese region is going through a difficult time right now. For IG this Major was the first LAN event since January 2022. The Chinese are also without a single victory in Group B and boast a 0-3-5 record. For the record, Invictus Gaming had previously finished 3rd in the first division in China. If this is how the third strongest team in the Chinese region performs, it says a lot.
15th-16th place - Execration, Team SMG
The Southeast Asian silver and bronze medalists did a little better than the previous two teams, but still not enough to advance to the play-offs. Execration finished 1-2-5, outscoring BetBoom Team and drawing TSM and 9 Pandas.
Team SMG didn't have any outstanding play, the squad finished with similar stats. Of note, it should be said that MidOne and its teammates drew with Team Spirit. While it's safe to say that Southeast Asia is currently one of the weakest regions in terms of level of play in Dota 2. Yes, there's also Talon Esports, but we'll talk about them a little later.
13-14 place - BetBoom Team, beastcoast
BetBoom Team came to ESL One Berlin Major 2023 with a substitute. Pure~ couldn't make it due to the full-scale aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, he was replaced by Resolut1on. The Eastern European representatives played an average game, drawing as many as 6 times, losing and winning one match each. This allowed BB Team to take part in a tiebreaker against Team Aster and Evil Geniuses to get to the bottom of the table. TORONTOTOKYO and Team Ledge lost to both opponents and left the tournament with nothing.
Beastcoast couldn't find their game, even though they were nominally travelling as the strongest team in South America. Stinger and the team finished the group stage with 1-3-4 statistics, defeating only Xtreme Gaming. This kept beastcoast out of the tiebreakers for 6th-7th place.
9-12 place - Team Spirit, Xtreme Gaming, Shopify Rebellion, PSG.LGD
The following four teams made it to the play-offs stage, but left ESL One Berlin Major 2023 after the first round of the lower net. And among them, there are teams that were expected to last a little longer. So Team Spirit, after going through Group B unbeaten, first Ledge or Gaimin Gladiators with a score of 0-2, and then also lost two consecutive games to Team Aster. Not the best performance for the champions of The International 2021.
Xtreme Gaming arrived in Berlin as the Chinese champions. But the team struggled to make it to the bottom of the play-offs from Group B with a 2-2-4 statistic. Their first and last opponent in the final stage of the tournament was Team Liquid. Xtreme Gaming didn't want to give up without a fight, but they couldn't win. The Chinese finished their first LAN tournament with no prize money or DPC points.
Arteezy and the team were clearly expected to do better than Shopify Rebellion showed in the tournament. The 3-4-1 statistics in Group B allowed them to reach the top draw, where the American side sensationally defeated 9 Pandas before losing 0-2 to Peru's Evil Geniuses.
PSG.LGD repeat their fate at The Lima Major 2023. The team was once again able to qualify for the group stage, but the Chinese failed to earn DPC points and prize money. In terms of level of play, the current PSG.LGD squad is clearly Ledgea its best iterations.
7-8 place - Team Aster, Talon Esports - $12,500, 200 DPC points
Team Aster once again proved that their level of international performance is now higher than the other representatives of the Chinese region. The team made it through the group stage, winning the tiebreaker for 5th-7th place against Evil Geniuses and BetBoom Team. The team's first opponent in the lower net was Team Spirit, whom they beat with confidence. But Team Liquid were an impassable test for them. Worth mentioning is the performance of SumaiL, who played for the Chinese team as a substitute. Pakistunen looked very decent in Team Aster.
Talon Esports played the ESL One Berlin Major 2023 better than any other team from their region. The team played a fairly average group stage and made it to the bottom of the table in the play-offs. 23savage and his teammates sensationally defeated PSG.LGD 2-0. Ledge and Evil Geniuses then went home on two maps in a row.
5-6 place - Tundra Esports, OG - $25,000, 300 DPC points
Tundra Esports at the end of the draw in group B. And there team really confirmed their status as the reigning champion of The International. Tundra won 6 out of 8 matches. And the team earned 2 draws against Team Spirit and OG. On such a major note, the European club defeated PSG.LGD 2-1, after which, unexpectedly for many, Ledgegeil 9 Pandas. Sneyking and the team in the bottom net faced Team Liquid, who proved to be too strong in this tournament. The 5-6th places can be regarded as progress compared to the previous Major, but you expect more from such a team.
OG had a similar fate as Tundra Esports in this tournament. But their expectations were a bit lower as the team had to play in Berlin with two stand-ins in the form of MinD_ContRoL and Kitrak. Even so OG finished Group B with a 4-4-0 statistic. In a tense encounter in the top-flight quarter-finals, Yuragi and team knocked Team Liquid into the net 2-1. In the semi-finals, OG met Gaimin Gladiators, who finished off their European counterparts at the top of the play-offs grid. At the bottom of the net, the team led EG and left the tournament.
4th place - Evil Geniuses - $50,000, 350 DPC points
Evil Geniuses was the team that shaped up the most in the tournament. At ESL One Berlin Major 2023, the Peruvians were placed in Group A and did not play their best 8 matches. EG outplayed Execration and Team Aster for a final score of 2-4-2. The team got into a tiebreaker, but managed to make it to the bottom of the table. In the losers' net, Evil Geniuses knocked out such teams as Shopify Rebellion, Talon Esports and OG in bo3 matches. The last match at ESL One Berlin Major 2023 for Evil Geniuses was a clash with Team Liquid, which they lost by a score of 0-2. The Peruvians gave an extremely decent performance and definitely progressed from match to match.
3rd place - 9 Pandas - $75,000, 400 DPC points
The 9 Pandas team made a result that very few would have expected. It is worth noting that the Eastern European representatives were not able to make it to Berlin in their full strength. RodjER became the stand-in for Solo. Group A of the future bronze medalists of the ESL One Berlin Major 2023 was extremely calm and stable. The team drew 6 games and didn't lose a single game. The 2-6-0 stats allowed RAMZES666 and the team to qualify for the top play-offs.
There the squad made it through to the top net final, beating teams like Shopify Rebellion and Tundra Esports on their way. The Gaimin Gladiators were an impossible task for them. After losing to GG, Club 9 Pandas played against Team Liquid in the final of the losers' grid. The teams gave Dota 2 fans an extremely entertaining match, and Liquid's Witch Doctor and Io will be remembered for a long time. 9 Pandas lost to Liquid 1:2. Third place in the Major was an excellent result, taking into account the forced substitution.
2nd place - Team Liquid - $100,000, 450 DPC points
Team Liquid had a decent game in this tournament, though not the most stable. Group A Insania and the team finished 3-4-1 in 3rd place, which put them in the top ten. But the European club's performance in the top net started and ended the same way. OG knocked Team Liquid into the losers' net following a full bo3 series.
Once in the losers' net, Team Liquid remembered one famous Miracle quote from The International 2017 and decided to stick with it. On their way to the grand final, Nisha and his teammates defeated the likes of Xtreme Gaming, Team Aster, Tundra Esports, Evil Geniuses and 9 Pandas. Getting into the grand final of ESL One Berlin Major 2023 gave Liquid the opportunity to take revenge on Gaimin Gladiators, as the teams had previously met in the final of DreamLeague Season 19 and The Lima Major 2023. But this was not to be. It is worth mentioning that 2nd place at ESL One Berlin Major 2023 allowed Team Liquid to become the first team to guarantee themselves a slot at The International 2022. They needed 1,500 DPC points to qualify.
1st place - Gaimin Gladiators - $200,000, 500 DPC points
The Gaimin Gladiators are yet again confirming their status as the strongest professional Dota 2 team in the world. Seleri and the team won Group A by a score of 5-3-0. The squad advances to the top of the table as heavy favorites to win the ESL One Berlin Major 2023.
On their way to the grand final, the Gaimin Gladiators were undefeated against teams like Team Spirit, OG and 9 Pandas. The future Major champions distinguished themselves with strong team and individual play. The Bo5 grand final between Gaimin Gladiators and Team Liquid was a fitting conclusion to such a brilliant tournament. Gaimin Gladiators simply proved to be stronger, despite serious opposition from Liquid. GG became two-time Major champions in the DPC 2023 season by a score of 3-1. So far, no one has been able to find the keys to defeating such a formidable squad.
Conclusion
ESL One Berlin Major 2023 was distinguished by bright matches, unexpected twists and turns, crowds of spectators and a festive atmosphere. The tournament documented the final dominance of Western Europe on the professional stage and the decline of China, which now shares last place with South East Asia in terms of international achievements. ESL did a great job. We also got the name of the first team guaranteed to go to Seattle for The International 2023, and we've seen that the Gaimin Gladiators are the strongest Dota 2 team in the world.
Maksym has been working at EGamersWorld since 2017. Joining the company during his first year at university, he worked as a translator until 2022. After that, Maksym began working as an editor. His main discipline is Dota 2, and over time, Maksym's responsibilities expanded to include CS:GO, CS2 and Valorant. Additionally, as an editor, he publishes various materials on gaming topics.