Bali Major group B favorites

The final Dota Pro Circuit Major of this season is scheduled to start on June 29. A total of 18 teams will compete in it, and nine of them will play in group B. This group is a lot more challenging than group A, so not even the strongest competitors cannot afford to take it easy.

Six of the nine teams will advance to the playoffs. Four of them will receive the opportunity to start the playoffs in the upper bracket, which would greatly increase their odds of finishing in the top eight and getting points.

Group B participants

Here are the nine teams that will compete in group B of the Bali Major:

• 9Pandas
• Azure Ray
• BetBoom Team
• Bleed Esports
• Evil Geniuses
• Gaimin Gladiators
• Nouns
• PSG.LGD
• Quest Esports

A quick look at this list should make any Dota 2 fan excited. But the players themselves are probably not happy with the situation they are in.

9Pandas and BetBoom are the strongest teams in Eastern Europe. Bleed Esports is the strongest team in SEA. Gaimin Gladiators is the best team in Western Europe. Evil Geniuses is the best team in South America. PSG.LGD and Azure Ray are probably the best teams in China at the moment.

Unyielding and united, the young gladiators conquered. Victorious once more, they claimed their fourth consecutive grand finals crown. Resilience personified.

We Fight.
Against All Rivals.
Against All Threats.
Against All Odds.#ESLProTour pic.twitter.com/9R0PBJEHNn

— GG | Gaimin Gladiators ⚔️ (@GaiminGladiator) June 25, 2023

There’s hardly anyone that deserves to be called an underdog in this group. However, based on what we saw at the recent DreamLeague S20, it’s safe to say that Gaimin Gladiators, BetBoom, PSG.LGD, and Evil Geniuses are the strongest competitors.

The weakest are almost certainly Nouns, Bleed Esports, and either Azure Ray or Quest Esports. Both of these last two teams have formidable players and could easily create huge upsets. But they’re still a bit weaker than the other top teams.

One competitor that might mess up despite having an excellent roster is BetBoom. This team is known for its inability to deal with the pressure associated with LAN events. At the Lima Major, BetBoom finished 15^th-16^th. Something similar happened at the Berlin Major (13^th-14^th).

BetBoom is now in a position where it absolutely needs to get a top-eight result to avoid the risk of losing its top 12 position in the DPC rankings. But that will only put more pressure on the players, which could easily result in a huge failure.

If that happens, teams like Azure Ray and 9Pandas, whose players have a lot of LAN experience, might finish in the top four.

Header: Evil Geniuses