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We've got to the centrepiece of the tour with a betting round on Team Liquid vs Gaimin Gladiators. The main European and World derby takes place on the first day of the second week of DPC 2023: WEU Upper Division Tour 3.
Another round of the famous derby, as always, The International heresy, although the GG - Liquid matches are starting to get boring. This particular one should be a real spectacle, as the teams have a lot to fight for.
At the very least, GG want to earn the Western European title. Far more important, however, is winning the league to secure direct passage to The International 2023.
We'll see how the game ends, who will be stronger and what the next encounter between the two best teams in the world will be remembered for.
Gaimin Gladiators uniforms
We begin with an analysis of the Gaimin Gladiators form. They will play this game as favourites, with a relatively large lead over their rivals.
The bookmakers single out GG as the winner of the meeting. The odds on the Gladiators' victory are at the 1.3 mark.
Such a figure was hard to imagine a few months ago, but is now a reality. The Liquid are seriously behind the Gaimin Gladiators.
"The Gladiators have earned the status of the strongest team in the world in the 2023 season. And that is without counting the home league win, which the Gaimin Gladiators never managed to achieve: The team finished in the top 2 in the first season, and downdrafted into the top 3 in the second.
However, all this pales in comparison to their performance in the international arena. There, the Gaimin Gladiators were unmatched in any of the championships, and there were three of them at once.
The GGs easily won the Lima Major 2023 without conceding a single match in the play-offs. Almost as easily they handled The Berlin Major 2023.
It seems that the only challenge for GG this season was DreamLeague S19, where the team fell into the net for the first time in the international arena in the last hope, but managed to come back and take the grand final.
- GG line-up: dyrachyo, Quinn, Ace, tOfu, Seleri .
This line-up has been a success in all the tournaments in 2023. No substitutions, as the teams from Western Europe were famous for throughout the year.
In the third season, DPC Gamin Gladiators Long Converged as expected. The team had two wins from two games, but gave away a card in each game (and that was Quest and Secret).
The most popular Gaimin Gladiators heroes
The most frequent pick was Rubick. The character appeared in the GG peak 8 times and has an 87% win rate.
Next are Pangolier (6 matches, 83% wins), Doom (6 matches, 66% wins), Keeper of the Light (5 matches, 80% wins), Ember Spirit (5 matches, 80% wins).
Also took Ember Spirit (4 matches, 100% wins), Terrorblade (4 matches, 75% wins).
The main thing for GG is not to pick Terrorblade. It's the new Monkey King by Dyrachyo, that is a completely ineffective feed in the hands of carry GG.
Team Liqudi uniforms
Let's move on to a review of Team Liquid's playing form. In this match they will play as the underdog.
The bookmakers do not believe in Team Liquid's success. The odds of TL winning this match are estimated at odds in the region of 3, and that, at the level of the club, is a wake-up call.
Undoubtedly, Team Liquid is a top team. The Liquid's results confirm this.
Top 3 at The International 2022 has led Liquid to replacements in the line-up. After Nisha joined the Liquid's stun, the level of team play became even higher.
Thus Liquid were able to become the Western European champions twice. In the first DPC round Liquid did not lose a single game, in the second they gave away the only series.
On the international stage, everything is stable: The squad has 3 Top-2 titles in three top tournaments. Liquid finished second at The Lima Major 2023, second place at the ESL One Berlin Major 2023 and DreamLeague S19.
The only reason Liquid are so far behind GG in terms of odds is because of their face-offs. Everywhere Liquid have been second, GG have been first.
- Team Liquid lineup: miCKe, Nisha, zai, Boxi, Insania.
In the third season, Liquid resorted to substitutions and that match against Entity they lost. Next was a match against Secret (2-0) and then D1 Hustlers. The last game grinded Liquid, but they closed 2-1 on the class.
Team Liquid's most popular heroes
The team has taken Chen 4 times (75% win rate). The Enchantress and Disruptor have a perfect win rate with 3 appearances, and the Pangolier, Underlord and Shadow Fiend are a bit worse.
The successful characters include Necrophos, Beastmaster, Undying, Monkey King, Rubick, Sven and Ember. They all appeared in spades 2 times each and won both matches.
It's obvious that Liquid are not playing at their full strength. The team has already secured a ticket to The International 2023 and can now rest. However, the match is a principal one, so there is The International heres to win it.
History of head-to-head encounters
In the last 5 matches Team Liquid have only won 1. The rest of the matches are in favour of GG.
Result of the meeting
Gaimin Gladiators are kryptonite for Team Liquid. I don't know what would have to change for the Liquid to outplay their major vis-a-vis of the year.
In this match I expect GG to win. The two teams show not the most stable game, but I think that for this match they will get together, and with equal conditions GG will take out the Liquid.
Bottom line: 2-0 win for Gaimin Gladiators.