Day 3 of Lima Major 2023 playoffs starts in Peru today. We will watch two semi-finals of the first major tournament of the season, but apart from that, we will take one more team home.
Talon Esports and HellRaisers will meet in a knockout match. The duel promises to be hot as the teams are very similar despite regional differences and other factors.
Talon Esports got to Lima Major 2023 from 3rd place DPC 2023: SA - Upper Division. In Lima itself, they were placed in Group A, where they managed to take 4th place, which was enough to reach the upper bracket of the playoffs. As we understand, Talon did not stay there for long.
HR, like Talon, made it to Lima Major 2023, taking 3rd place in the home league. Right at the Major, the representatives of Eastern Europe got into Group B, where they managed to cling to the TOP-6 after replays and reach the bottom of the playoff bracket.
We figure out which of the “worst” representatives of their regions will be able to move further along the grid, and who will stop their performance at the TOP-12 stage.
Talon Esports Uniform
Let's start the review of the match with an analysis of the game form of Talon Esports. In this match they will act as the favorite.
It is quite logical that Talon is given the role of the first violin. On their victory, the bookmaker gives a coefficient of around 1.5.
Talon is nominated as a very confident favorite, and this is connected with their performance at Lima Major 2023. Until now, the team from Southeast Asia can be called the opening of the season.
Talon Esports roster
Having gathered veterans of the competitive scene under one wing, Talon Esports managed to put together an efficient team, which we saw in the group stage.
Talon Esports Players
- 23savage
- Mikoto
- Jabz
- Q
- Oli
Mikoto deserves special praise. It is the midlaner that Talon owes most of their victories to. Even in negative matchups, like tête-à-tête with Nisha, Mikoto managed to keep the lane on the level, and in some places even beat his opponents.
Talon Esports performance
Talon Esports played the regional league with a score of 4-3. This result allowed them to take the last 3rd place for the passage to Lima.
The team also played at the M.Invitational championship, where Talon managed to get into the TOP-4, which can not be called a good result. Things went much better at BTS Pro Series Season 14, and in the end, Talon won the championship there.
As part of the group stage, they took 4th place in Pot A. They won against Execration, TSM and EHOME, tied with Gaimin Gladiators, PSG.LGD, EG and Team Spirit and lost against Tundra Esports.
In the first game of the playoffs, Talon Esports played against Team Liquid. The match, surprisingly, turned out to be quite long: while the first map lasted 31 minutes, all 49 minutes were kept on the second Talon. At the matchpoint, Liquid beat Talon with Drow Ranger and Doom by Zai.
Talon Esports Heroes
The team uses the meta Rubick (10 matches, 9 wins), Tusk (9 games, 77% wins), however, apart from them, it picks Elder Titan, unique for the tournament (8 matches, 100% wins), and the forgotten Templar Assassin in the first position (8 games)., 100% wins).
In the first match of the playoffs, there were also Naga in 3rd position and Lina with Undying, as well as the unpopular Omniknight, Faceless Void and Ember. None of them won, of course.
HellRaisers form
We continue the review of the match with an analysis of HellRaisers' performance. They are predicted to be an outsider in this game.
The chance of winning the representative of Eastern Europe is estimated by the odds around 2.5. The gap in the game is inherent, but it is not critical.
It's time for HellRaisers to fight with Talon Esports in pursuit of the title of the main opening of the season. As part of the group stage of Lima Major 2023, the team showed a higher result than expected from them before the start of the tournament.
HellRaisers roster
Last but not least, they predicted a worse result due to problems in the squad. At the end of the regular season games, the team lost its carry, and reached Lima with a replacement.
HellRaisers Players
- Yuragi
- depressed kid
- MieRo`
- Antares
- Solo
Yuragi from OG fit the team well. If this was not visible at the beginning of the tournament, then already in the middle of the group stage HR began to play as a well-coordinated mechanism, leaving behind more serious rivals in the person of the same BB Team.
HellRaisers performance
HellRaisers finished the regular season with a score of 4-3. In addition to DPC, HR played at third-party tournaments from BB. Success is doubtful.
BB Universe: Episode 1 - Cosmic Zone became such a championship. There, HellRaisers managed to play in the group stage and pass it, but didn't make it to the playoffs: HR failed the first match in the upper bracket, and then lost to Ooredoo Thunder and left the event.
At Lima Major 2023, HellRaisers got into Group B. Nominally, one of the weakest teams in the basket managed to win 7 maps out of 16, and then outplayed Geek Slate in the replay, thus advancing to the main stage of the championship.
Heroes HellRaisers
The most picked heroes by HellRaisers were: Enchantress (4 matches, 75% wins), Tusk (4 matches, 75% wins), Alchemist (3 matches, 100% wins), Crystal Maiden (3 matches, 100% wins), Legion Commander (3 matches, 100% wins).
In addition, they like to use meta carries. Of these, Naga Siren (6 matches, 50% wins), Sniper (5 matches, 60% wins) can be noted.
History of personal confrontations
Previously, the teams did not meet each other in official matches. The fight in the first round of the playoffs will be the debut face-to-face confrontation between the teams.
Match outcome
This game can quite unexpectedly become the central confrontation of the tour, and even the game day. So far, the level of teams at the Lima Major surprises and leaves much to be desired.
Even Western Europe, represented by Tundra, has shown its weakness, and therefore representatives of Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe can give a serious mahach.
As for the winner, I have more faith in HellRaisers. A big plus for HR is that they know how to capitalize on the advantage. This is one of the few teams of this caliber (not counting the Western European giants) that does not throw, and this should work in favor of HellRaisers.
In any case, an easy walk for one of the parties will not work. With a high degree of probability, 3 maps await us, but preference is for HR.
Outcome: victory for HellRaisers.
