Perfect balance, the Gladiators era and trouble in paradise - what The Bali Major 2023 left behind

Perfect balance, the Gladiators era and trouble in paradise - what The Bali Major 2023 left behind

The Bali Major 2023, the final Major of the season, came to an end on July 9 in Bali. 18 teams competed for $500,000, 3,500 DPC points and the title.

As befitting an event of this level, the tournament was full of excitement. But because nothing in the world is perfect, the Bali Major 2023 left a mixed bag of emotions.

Here's a look back at the highlights of the Bali World Cup and hope that competitive Dota 2 will take a new turn in the years to come.

Gaimin Gladiators Beyond Competition: The Bali Major 2023 is a one-man show

A retrospective review of The Bali Major 2023 begins with the news that Gaimin Gladiators are once again the best team in the world. For the third time in a row.

The European club again won the grand final of the premium event and did it again without too many problems. A team of this level hasn't been seen in professional Dota 2 since OG in their peak periods.

The victory at the 2023 Bali Major was Gaimin Gladiators' third Major e championship and fifth in one year. The Gladiators have not lost a single premium championship in the 2023 season.

The Gaimin Gladiators' victory is momentous and historic. They are two steps away from an all-time Dota 2 record that only remains with wins at the Riyadh Masters 2023 and The International 2023.

Naturally, easier said than done, but to be fair, GG simply have no competition. No one is belittling GG's merits or downplaying the significance of their win in any way, but the Bali Major 2023 showed the incompetence of Valve's regional system.

Valve's regional system isn't working - time to change the DPC

The Bali Major 2023 was supposed to be a breakthrough tournament in terms of competitiveness and "revitalizing" the competitive regions, but it seems things have only gotten worse. Apart from Western Europe no one is playing Dota right now. And that's not even a personal feeling - that's what the facts say.

All year long, the Western Europeans led by Gaimin Gladiators have crushed everyone in their way, and The Bali Major 2023 was the final nail in the coffin of competition between the regions.

Whereas at The Lima Major 2023 we saw Shopify Rebellion and Talon Esports in the top 4, and in Berlin 9Pandas made it to the top three, at the Bali Major 2023 only Western European teams made it to the final day.

I am not against the fact that Western Europe ranks in the top places, but it is sad when all the representatives of a region are in the top 4, while one of them plays his first Major and the other one reaches TOP 3 with a coach. It is sad that the gap between Europe and any other region in 2023 is phenomenal. It is sad that the preconditions for change are not yet in sight.

That, however, is clearly not the worst aspect of The Bali Major 2023. "Paradise" tournament was remembered not only by European dominance and impeccable GG, but also by a number of frankly embarrassing moments.

The Bali Major 2023 playoffs are no laughing matter for $800

Even at the stage of announcing the contractors for The Bali Major 2023, the tournament raised questions. EPulze who already celebrated The Lima Major - a tournament far from high standard - took the lead in organizing the final Major of the season. However, against the background of The Bali Major 2023, the Peruvian championship can be called a benchmark. The Bali Major 2023 play-offs are a spit in the fans' face.

At the Long Soggan of ticket sales for Dota 2's main summer event, many were outraged by the fantastic price to watch the tournament. Almost $900 for the final 3 days. Apparently, for such a price Gabe personally had to meet the guests of the Indonesian championship, but in fact, those who visited the "arena" live got this.

And what to say about the "top" opening ceremony with a dancing Indonesian folk dance Morphling. It's not even funny.

It seems that the only thing that saved the live play-offs was the free beer on stage. Otherwise, it would have been very difficult to cope with the "content" at Bali.

However, a tournament is a play-offs. The problems started even before the Long Cognega matches in the "arena".

Valve should personally handle the Major os - without them TOs can not in principle decide

At The Bali Major 2023 there were two telling moments. The first was the use of the Caretaker bug from Azure Ray, the second was Streamsniping from BetBoom. And in both situations the tournament operator looked immature.

Azure Ray IO Esports were dealt with for several hours, then attributing a loss to them on the card, then taking "penalties" and "continuing" investigations, all accompanied by a hilarious twitter scramble.

The second marker of IO's irresponsibility is the Streamsniping moment from BB. Although in this case the organizers behaved correctly, it took a lot of time, consultation with Valve, and also postponed matches. And by the way, the situation could have been hushed up if it were not for the Dota community.

Frankly, you wouldn't expect that at an S-rang tournament, but the Bali Major 2023 showed that world championships can be like that. And that, coupled with the $888 Morphling dancing and free beer in the 'bleachers, has a nasty aftertaste. The Dota Major has never looked as infantile and cheap as it did at The Bali Major 2023, thankfully, some of the shortcomings can be covered up with pretty numbers.

The Bali Major 2023 is a perfect balance, not on the outside but on the inside. Then there's Morphling's dominance and other numbers.

The Bali tournament has become perfectly balanced in game terms. Noxville counted the numbers and it turned out that exactly 200 games were played in the tournament, with Radiant (100) and Dire (100) having the same number of matches.

Speaking of team preference in spades, here Morphling (but not dancing before the finals, not to be confused) has primacy. Hero has only been ignored in 5 matches and that's clearly a note to Valve. Time to nerf.

Nerfs and edits we'll leave to Valve, but records to the teams! At the Bali Major 2023 there were several of them:

• Blacklist's victory against Invictus Gaming by a margin of 45,000 gold;
• The third longest game in history between Gaimin Gladiators and Quest Esports in the group stage;
• A ticket for the final three days priced at $888.

In terms of spectacle, The Bali Major 2023 was a top tournament, there is no question about that. In other respects, let it not happen again, please.

The Bali Major 2023 took place from June 29 to July 9, 2023. The tournament offered $500,000 and 3,500 DPC points. The winner of the championship was Gaimin Gladiators, who won the Major for the 3rd time in a row and remain the main favourite for the upcoming Riyadh Master and The International 2023.

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