Gaimin Gladiators crowned DreamLeague S19 Champions

After the Lima Major ended, a lot of Dota 2 fans assumed that Gaimin Gladiators won simply because Team Liquid were competing with a stand-in. That impression was partially destroyed at the start of Tour 2, when the two teams had another match and Gladiators won again.

Now, after the Grand Final of DreamLeague S19, everyone is convinced that Quinn “Quinn” Callahan’s team is just as strong or even stronger than Liquid. Arguably, the battle for the Berlin Major and The International 2023 will take place between these two Western European giants.

Read the full interview with Quinn here.

DreamLeague S19 lessons and results

The results of DreamLeague S19 are not surprising at all. The only thing that’s surprising is that Team Spirit, Talon Esports, and ex-HellRaisers failed to qualify for the second stage of the tournament. Other than that, the competitors that proved to be the best in the first half of the season confirmed their strength.

What is very interesting to see at DreamLeague S19 was the team’s capacity to adapt to changing circumstances. Dota 2 patch 7.33 was released right before the start of the playoffs and the four competitors who qualified for this stage had to make an important decision.

In some cases, they chose to ignore the new patch. But in others they took full advantage of it. The matches were long and full of exciting moments, averaging around one kill per minute in most cases.

We had the opportunity to watch heroes like Techies, Bounty Hunter, Spirit Breaker, and others being played by the world’s best players. Legion Commander and Alchemist were also revived by the new patch, but they need to be played a bit more before they are successful.

The four teams that competed in the playoffs of DreamLeague S19 were Liquid, Gladiators, Tundra Esports, and Shopify Rebellion. The first two of these teams started in the upper bracket, while the last two started in the lower bracket.

Against all odds, Tal “Fly” Aizik defeated Tundra (2-1) and had a great opportunity. But in the lower bracket Final, Gladiators proved to be a lot more skilled at this point. Even though the meta facilitates long games, Quinn’s team won both games in just half an hour.

In the Grand Final, the battle was difficult and the match ended up needing five games to conclude. Gladiators struggled a bit more to win their games, but in the end were successful. In the two games they lost, they practically lost to a farmed Sven, whom they decided to ban in game 5.

Header: ESL