Three WEU teams secure a top-6 spot at the Lima Major

Western Europe is easily the strongest region in Dota 2 these days. We saw what happened at The International 11, where all of the top-3 positions were won by WEU teams. Tundra Esports won the Aegis of Champions, while Team Secret and Team Liquid finished second and third respectively.

When the new Dota Pro Circuit season began, everyone knew that Western Europe would continue to dominate the game’s professional scene. China is unrecognizable, North America only has one or two teams that can make an impact, while SEA, Eastern Europe, and South America are not ready yet to challenge the likes of Team Liquid.

WEU’s results at the Lima Major

Western Europe sent four teams to the Lima Major. So far, only one of them got eliminated from the tournament: Tundra Esports. This exit was quite surprising given Tundra’s victory at The International 2022.

The team failed to secure an upper bracket spot and then was unfortunate enough to encounter the strongest representative from China, Team Aster.

The other three teams from Western Europe have done much better. They secured upper bracket spots and won the first round of matches. Team Liquid defeated Talon Esports, Entity beat Evil Geniuses, and Gaimin Gladiators crushed Aster. In all three matches, the score was 2-0 in favor of the Europeans.

Now we need to see which of these three teams is worthy of a spot in the Grand Final or at least the upper bracket Final. Gaimin Gladiators will play against Entity, which means that at least one European team will play in the upper bracket Final. In the match between Shopify Rebellion and Team Liquid, Liquid look much stronger.

Tal “Fly” Aizik and his squad are obviously in great shape right now and have played the first part of the tournament with a lot of confidence. They usually fail to secure an upper bracket spot and then get eliminated in the first or second round of the lower bracket.

But this time, they started with a record of 3 W – 4 D – 1 L and then won their first upper bracket match against Team Spirit. This victory, against the winners of The International 10, was truly inspirational. It’s been a long time since we last saw Artour “Arteezy” Babaev so fired-up.

The only problem is that Liquid are regarded by everyone as the next TI winners. Stopping them will be nearly impossible.

Header: Team Liquid