Gaimin Gladiators win 25k BetBoom Tournament

The 2023 DPC season hasn’t started yet, but some European Dota 2 teams already had a head start in the competition after BetBoom’s Xmas Show, which was won by Quinn “Quinn” Callahan’s new team Gaimin Gladiators.

After defeating Nemiga Gaming and the new Virtus.Pro, Gaimin Gladiators had to face off against the champions of The International 10 Team Spirit.

Roller coaster ride at BetBoom for Gaimin Gladiators

Unlike during the first two stages of the tournament, Gaimin Gladiators were one member short with Indji “Shad” Lub replacing Russian Anton “dyrachyo” Shkredov. This sudden line-up change seemingly affected the team’s performance, and Gaimin Gladiators found themselves in the lower bracket after a 2-0 upper bracket final loss to Team Spirit. Spirit were playing with a new member Denis “Larl” Sigitov.

Things were already looking scary in the lower bracket, with an angry Nemiga waiting for revenge. After being relegated to the lower bracket by Gaimin Gladiators in the first quarterfinal round, Nemiga run though the lower bracket without losing a single game before meeting Gaimin Gladiators again in the lower bracket final. 

When Nemiga won the opening game of the series, doubts were raised among Gaimin Gladiators fans, but those were quickly dispelled as they regained the upper hand with a solid Faceless Void draft. However, after that, they had to face Team Spirit again in the Grand Final.

Gaimin Gladiators prevail and win the tournament

Team Spirit completely dominated the first game. Although the Gladiators tried to defend their base, the team was forced to retire after 50 minutes, giving Team Spirit their first win.

In Game 2, Gaimin Gladiators wanted revenge. While Team Spirit bet Magnus, the Gladiators managed to counter the pick by giving Sniper to Quinn in the midlane. While the early game was evenly balanced between both teams, Quinn proved to be the crucial man for his team as he gunned down all of Team Spirit’s heroes in multiple teamfights. After 47 minutes, the score was 1-1.

In Game 3,  Gaimin Gladiators suffered as Team Spirit played with an aggressive plan. Team Spirit players used the early stages to farm their heroes like Ursa and Leshrac, and used their mid-game timing to give the Gladiators a head start. Realizing they could no longer delay the inevitable, Gaimin Gladiators gave up after the 41st minute. 

Game 4 began with a fairly competitive early game, although more heroes died on Team Spirit’s side. With the Gaimin Gladiators pursuing a more aggressive plan, things spiraled out of control for Team Spirit as they gave up one by one in the mid-game. Team Spirit tried to fight until the end, but the damage was already done and the team lost after 46 minutes.

In Game 5, Team Spirit went for comfort picks, drafting Tiny for Larl, Razor for Illya “Yatoro” Mulyarchuk, and Collapse’s Mars. Gaimin Gladiators, on the other hand, used Leshrac, Drow Ranger and Nature’s Prophet. There was a lot less action in the first 10 minutes compared to the other games in the series, with both teams making kills while also farming for the late game. However, a single teamfight loss for Team Spirit around the 15th minute sent things spiraling out of control again. Team Spirit managed to last another 25 minutes but couldn’t avert the inevitable and had to retire after 40 minutes.

Gaimin Gladiators emerged victorious, taking home $25,000.

Header: Gaimin Gladiators