Forecast for The Berlin Major 2023: Who will make the championship play-offs

ESL One Berlin Major 2023 Long Converges on 26th April. Top 18 teams from all over the world will converge on the Velodrom in Berlin, Germany to split a massive prize pool of $500,000 and 2,700 DPC Ranking Points needed to qualify for The International 2023. In this article we take a look at group stage seeding and what the participants' chances are of qualifying for the play-offs stage of The Berlin Major 2023.

Group A

In general it should be noted that seeding in each group is fairly balanced and all teams in each of them can be conditionally divided into three categories: clear favourites that will have a chance to make a mistake in the final part of the tournament, good teams that will also go to play-offs but at the bottom of the table, and participants that will drop out of the championship at the end of the group stage.

Teams that will qualify for the top draw

The clear favorite in Group A is Team Liquid. The team has been playing great since Nisha joined the organization. The Western European champions and the Lima Major 2023 should win Group A. Their ranks include PSG.LGD, currently the strongest team in China together with Xtreme Gaming. Also good chances for the top grid have Gaimin Gladiators, who won the previous Major, and ex-HellRaisers. The representatives of Eastern Europe have not found their equal in the region.

The teams that will get slots in the lower bracket are

The 5th and 6th places in Group A will be taken by Team Aster and Evil Geniuses. Team Aster have generally looked decent at both international and regional level, but at DPC CN 2023 Tour 2: Division I they blatantly failed in the second half of the league. Evil Geniuses are breathing down the neck of beastcoast in South America, but are showing consistent results. Last time at the Major in Lima, Matthew and his teammates finished 5th or 6th, which is a good result for representatives from the South American region.

Teams who will finish at the end of group stage

Into this category we place Execration, BetBoom Team and TSM. Execration do not come from the strongest of Southeast Asia's regions. Although the team shows good results at the regional level, the Execration did not win a single match in the group stage of The Lima Major. The BetBoom Team have assembled some good local performers, but at the international level they cannot find their game. TSM are the undisputed leaders in North America, but their squad is unlikely to be able to compete with the strongest teams from China or Western Europe.

Group B

Group B is globally similar to Group B, but with some differences by region. There is at least one strong contender that should come as a strong surprise.

The teams that will qualify for the top draw

The main contenders for the top 4 of Group B are clubs Tundra Esports, Team Spirit, Xtreme Gaming and Talon Esports. Tundra Esports, the reigning world champions of The International 2022, are likely to start the play-offs stage from the top set, although they will go through a fierce battle. The team did not do well in the previous Major, but they should not be written off. Team Spirit, the former world champions, finished in second place in Eastern Europe. Xtreme Gaming are currently on par with PSG.LGD in terms of strength, so Group B should see them through unless something unexpected happens. Talon Esports are listed as Group B favourites due to the extremely confident performance of 23savage and the team. The Southeast Asian representatives are bronze medallists of The Lima Major 2023 and champions of the first division of their region. If the team can get through acclimatisation, they will have a good chance of making the top draw.

The teams that will receive slots in the lower net

OG might not have made it to the ESL One Berlin Major 2023 at all had they not met in the final week of Division One of the DPC league. The team has potential, although they are still too far away from the organisation's "golden" roster. If the team shows the game with which they made it to the tournament, the OG players will make it to the play-offs. Invictus Gaming have competed directly against Team Aster in China, Pyw and the team have not shown anything on the international stage for a long time. Perhaps this time they can fulfil a minimum programme at The Berlin Major 2023.

Teams that will finish at the end of the group stage in

Team SMG is the least likely to qualify for the final stage of the tournament. Team SMG may be called the weakest team of the tournament, as MidOne and its teammates not only don't perform well at world level, but also play unstable within Southeast Asia. They could be joined by beastcoast, but with the right level of play their ambitions could be much higher. Shopify Rebellion have a chance of not making the play-offs either, as there are only 6 places in the final stage and 9 teams in the group.

Conclusion

The climax of the second round of DPC season 2023 is coming soon to our viewers. We may expect some pleasant or unpleasant surprises, or maybe the teams will perform as expected. Traditionally, the main favourites for the title of champion and potential winners of the main prize of $200,000 and 500 DPC points are the teams from Western Europe and China. Most teams still have time to practice before the Long Soping Major tournament at the DreamLeague Season 19 event, so some competitors can improve their level of play for the DPC points and potential spots at The International 2023.