Lima Major 2023: Gaimin Gladiator and Team Liquid are through the final

Popular Dota teams Gaimin Gladiators and Team Liquid have secured their spot in the upper bracket finals after sweeping Entity and Shopify Rebellion in their respective matchups.

The Lima Major continued on Thursday with two exciting upper-bracket semifinal matches. The European team went head-to-head against Tal “Fly” Aizik’s Shopify Rebellion in the first match, while the second match saw Gaimin Gladiators taking on Entity. Here is a recap of both matches:

Gaimin Gladiator relegates Entity to lower-bracket

The first match of the day was a highly-anticipated showdown between two of the strongest group-stage teams. However, it ended up being a rather anticlimactic affair as Gaimin Gladiator soundly swept Entity in the best-of-three series to advance to the upper bracket final.

Gaimin Gladiator went off to a flying start, winning the opening map of the best-of-three series to put Entity under pressure early on. Gladiator’s carry Anton “dyrachyo” Shkredov and midlaner Quinn “Quinn” Callahan went above and beyond to help the European team build on the promising early game. Both players racked up ten kills each with a respective K/D/A of 10/1/8 and 10/1/15.

The European side maintained their form on the second map and put on another offensive display to take the lead from the opening minutes. Failing to answer the European onslaught, Entity was unable to gain any ground and dropped the game in 26 minutes. With this clean sweep, Gaimin Gladiator has guaranteed a top-three finish at the Lima Major as well as a place in the upper bracket final.

Team Liquid secures top three at Lima Major with a clean sweep over Shopify Rebellion

Liquid, led by Aydin “iNSaNiA” Sarkohi, continued their winning streak at the Lima Major by crushing Fly and Shopify in a lopsided BO3. The last time the two IGLs faced off was in the group stage of The International 11 when Shopify’s players were playing under Evil Geniuses’ banner.

Liquid thrashed Fly and his team at the International and Lima Major was no exception. Liquid needed only 31 minutes to win the opening game, thanks to the outstanding play of their star player Michael “miCKe” Vu, the Swedish carry who recorded 10 kills in the opening game with Lina.

In the second game, Shopiy tried to stage a comeback after being threatened with relegation, but a late-game Classico from Liquid foiled their efforts. Despite Abed “Abed” Yusop’s staggering 13 kills, Shopify was unable to stop Liquid’s winning streak as the European team ended the second map with a resounding victory following a sluggish 43-minute fight.

Header: Valve