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The Riyadh Masters 2023, the main commercial tournament of the year, begins its new stage in Riyadh. The tournament will offer $15,000,000 and that's a good reason for teams to go all out.
While some of the teams are preparing for the Long Sogpeg bo2 meat grinder at the Play-In, we'll talk about the other bo2 roulette - the group stage of the championship. We're watching Group A, where Team Spirit and Gaimin Gladiators will play in one of the opening matches.
It promises to be a heated match, as the teams have plenty of motivation, not to mention the fantastic prize pool. For Gaimin Gladiators Riyadh Masters it is an opportunity to win all the top tournaments of the year and become one of the best teams in the history of Dota, and for Spirit it is a chance to finally shine on the international stage.
However, in order to achieve the aforementioned goals, you have to go through a thorny path, which starts with Bo2 matches in Group A. Let's find out what to expect from the game.
Let's go.
Gaimin Gladiators uniform
Let's start the match analysis by analysing the Gaimin Gladiators' form. In this match they will play as favourites.
To wonder about the advantage of Gaimin Gladiators in 2023 is like denying that the earth is round. "Gladiators" is the strongest team in the world and has no competition yet. Just take a look at the performance of the Europeans and everything ѕtunet is clear.
At the DPC 2023 Tour 1 WEU Division 1 the team took TOP 2, which opened the way for them to The Lima Major 2023. The first Major season of the tournament was a рlace of triumph for the Gladiators. Gaimin Gladiators won the tournament without losing a single map in the championship play-offs.
The next DPC cycle in the home league ended even worse than the previous one. Then GG lost to tiebreaker for the top 2, but more than compensated for the failure with a performance on the international stage. Even twice.
On the eve of Long Copega DPC 2023: Tour 3, GG took the championship in two international arenas. They won the $1,000,000 DreamLeague S19 and The Berlin Major 2023, defending their status.
In the third round of the domestic league, Gaimin Gladiators were expectedly one of the top contenders to win the league, but failed to get the regional championship. At the end of DPC 2023: WEU Tour 3 GG took 2nd place, but they made it to the Major, and that's the main thing.
- Gaimin Gladiators lineup: dyrachyo, Quinn, Ace, tOfu, Seleri .
There was also DreamLeague Season 20, where in the first group stage GG felt like they played half-heartedly. Nevertheless, they made it to the next stage and then won the grand final.
The last tournament before the Riyadh Masters 2023 was The Bali Major 2023. The third Major tournament ended with another triumph for Gaimin Gladiators. In the grand finals, Liquid moved once again.
The most popular heroes of Gaimin Gladiators
The most frequent pick was Rubick. The character has appeared in the GG peak 8 times and has an 87% win rate.
Next came Pangolier (6 matches, 83% wins), Doom (6 matches, 66% wins), Keeper of the Light (5 matches, 80% wins), Ember Spirit (5 matches, 80% wins).
We also took Ember Spirit (4 matches, 100% wins), Terrorblade (4 matches, 75% wins).
Team Spirit uniforms
We continue the match analysis with the analysis of Team Spirit's form. In this match they will have to play as the number two.
Team Spirit are behind for the same reason that Gaimin Gladiators are favourites. The Western European team is the best team in the world, and it makes sense that the Spirit don't have many chances to outplay their counterparts. They are few, but they are there, as the format of the group assumes the success of the outsider.
In the first round of DPC 2023: EEU Division 1 Spirit took 2nd place. Then the dragons were prevented from winning by BB Team, who finished the tournament in first place with a score of 7-0. After playing in their home league, Team Spirit visited The Lima Major 2023 where they finished in the top 8.
Later Spirit played the second round of the home league and again finished in the top 2. Going to The Berlin Major 2023 they expected to improve the result of the previous Major, but in the end it got worse: already TOP-12.
Despite the "sluggish" game on the international arena, Spirit still consistently come out of the groups at the Major, and at home they look like the main contender for victory in every game. This was the case in the third season of DPC 2023.
Spirit finished the Eastern Europe final cycle in first place. It took 3 attempts to earn the championship in Eastern Europe.
- Team Spirit roster: Yatoro, Larl, Collapse, Mira, Miposhka .
The last tournament before DreamLeague Season 20 for the Dragons was DreamLeague S20. There the representatives of Eastern Europe took the top 5, which is not a bad indicator, considering the above mentioned performance for the year.
Like GG, Spirit visited The Bali Major 2023, but the results are diametrically opposite. The team finished in the top 12, failing to qualify for the prizes.
Team Spirit's most popular characters
The top most picked Team Spirit characters is headed by Crystal Maiden. The character has appeared in the peak 6 times and has an 83% win rate.
Apart from Crystal Maiden, Disruptor and Underlord are also appreciated, having been peaked 5 times each with 80% winrate. There was also Skywrath Mage (4 matches, 100% win rate), Doom (4 matches, 75% win rate), PL, Viper, Slark, Riki appeared 3 times each and has 100% win rate.
History of head-to-head meetings
Previously, the teams have played against each other many times on the big stage. Over 5 matches, the statistics for Spirit are disappointing: 4-1 in favour of Gaimin Gladiatosr.
Match outcome
The Gaimin Gladiators should sweep away their opponents, but most likely it won't happen. "Gladiators" can gradually accelerate in the group stage, and given that the format is bo2, it favours Spirit. My bet will be on the Spirit card.
Bottom line: +1.5 on Spirit.
