The Lima Major 2023 preview: what will please us with the first Major in South America?
Maksym ShylovThe Lima Major 2023 starts in a few hours, so we will tell you about all the details that excite you, tell you about the favorites, underdogs and “dark horses” of the upcoming championship in South America. 18 teams have already arrived in Peru and are preparing to take part in the fight for the impressive prize and DPC points needed to qualify for The International 2023.
Format
The Lima Major 2023 will be held in two stages: the group stage and the playoffs. In the group stage, the participants will be divided into two groups of 9 teams. The group stage is played in the Round-Robin format. The match format is Bo2. Participants in the top 4 will go to the upper bracket of the playoffs. The 5th-6th places will get slots in the lower bracket, and the rest of the teams will complete their participation in the Major. The fights will be held from 22 to 26 February. Then the teams will go on a two-day break.
The final stage of the tournament is scheduled from February 28th to March 5th. 12 teams will fight in the Double-Elimination bracket. The format of all matches, except for the Grand Final, will be Bo3. The champion of The Lima Major 2023 will be determined based on the results of the Bo5 series.
Venue and organizers
For the first time in the history of Dota 2, a Major series tournament will be held in South America. Valve's choice fell on the city of Lima, which is located in Peru. Players and spectators will be hosted by Arena 1, which can accommodate up to 15,000 people. Given the sale of all tickets and the nature of fans from Latin America, there will be a unique atmosphere at the venue.
The organization is handled by 4D Esports together with Epulze. 4D Esports was founded in 2019. The company organizes local tournaments in South America, and also hosted the DPC SA 2021/2022 series leagues.
List of participants
All 18 participants of The Lima Major 2023 are presented below:
- Execration
- Gaimin Gladiators
- TSM
- Evil Geniuses
- PSG.LGD
- Team Spirit
- Talon Esports
- Tundra Esports
- EHOME
- Geek Slate
- Liquid
- Shopify Rebellion
- beastcoast
- Team Aster
- BetBoom Team
- HellRaisers
- entity
- Knights
Below we will highlight several teams that can be classified into one of three categories: favorites, outsiders and “dark horses”.
Favorites
First of all, I would like to mention Team Liquid. The arrival of Michał 'Nisha' Jankowski to the mid lane only strengthened the game of an already strong team. Team Liquid can be called one of the main, if not the main favorites to win the Major. Insania and his teammates won the DPC WEU 2023 Tour 1: Division I with a score of 7-0 without any problems, losing only 1 map each against OG and Gaimin Gladiators.
Tundra Esports have not lost their authority yet after their crushing victory over Team Secret in the finals of The International 2022. In Western Europe, the team took 3rd place with 4-3 statistics, having participated in a long series of tiebreakers against Entity and OG. Sneyking and his champion roster, although they looked a little weaker than the leaders of that league, made it to the Major. The LAN format of the event can help the team feel their game and show a result that would be worthy of the owners of the Aegis of the Champions.
In the trinity of favorites, we will also include PSG.LGD. The updated roster performed well at DPC CN 2023 Tour 1: Division I, losing only to the Knights. Considering the fact that China has always shown an extremely competitive game in Dota 2, and PSG.LGD has always had championship ambitions, NothingToSay is clearly set to earn the maximum DPC points to get to The International. This player and the organization as a whole definitely lacks the title of world champions.
Outsiders
HellRaisers are one of the main contenders for elimination from the tournament at the group stage. The team first parted ways with Nikita 'Daxak' Kuzmin, instead of him Alik 'V-Tune' Vorobey, who previously played for Natus Vincere, was preparing for the carry position. But it did not work out with him either, the player could not leave Ukraine due to martial law in the country, introduced due to the full-scale aggression of the Russian Federation. As a result, Artem 'Yuragi' Golubiev from OG will play for HellRaisers. Yuragi doesn't impress much with a carry position, and HR can only boast of a 3rd place in Eastern Europe, which doesn't shine with its competitiveness.
Talon Esports is unlikely to show a good performance at The Lima Major 2023. Although the team had enough playing practice. In 2023, the team managed to take part in the M. Invitational 2023, where they took 4th place, finished 3rd in DPC SEA 2023 Tour 1: Division I with a score of 4-3, and also won BTS Pro Series Season 14: Southeast Asia. 23savage will be able to show a good game in several bo2 matches, but they should not be expected in the playoffs.
dark horses
In the category of dark horses, we will include representatives of South America, for whom this will be a home Major. We are talking about beastcoast and Evil Geniuses. Evil Geniuses at the end of The International 2022 decided to move to Latin America and signed a promising roster of local players. Matthew and his teammates took 2nd place in DPC SA 2023 Tour 1: Division I with 6-1 statistics, losing only to the aforementioned beastcoast. Having won everyone in the first division, beastcoast went to Lima to prove their superiority in their home region. The eSports club has won all 7 matches. The factor of native walls cannot be underestimated. With the overwhelming support of their home audience, these clubs can surprise everyone with their performance.
Prize distribution
In total, teams will compete for a prize pool of $500,000 and 1,900 DPC points. Prizes will be given to participants who are in the top 8 of the championship.
The distribution of awards is shown below:
- 1st Place - $200,000 - 400 DPC points
- 2nd Place - $100,000 - 350 DPC points
- 3rd Place - $75,000 - 300 DPC points
- 4th place - $50,000 - 250 DPC points
- 5th-6th place - $25,000 - 200 DPC points
- 7th-8th place - $12,500 - 100 DPC points
Matches history: The Lima Major 2023
The Lima Major 2023 will give Dota 2 fans exciting matches featuring the best teams from around the world. Representatives of Europe and China have the greatest chances of winning, but South America should not be written off. Local teams show solid performance and can show an outstanding game with the support of the audience. At EGW, you can read the predictions for all the matches you are interested in, as well as follow the events at the first Major of the season!
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.