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We continue our look at BLAST Slam I, the first tournament from a well-known tournament operator on the competitive Dota 2 landscape. The championship will feature 10 teams, all of whom have received a direct invitation from the organisers.
These 10 teams will play each other for $1,000,000 and the championship title. Among the contenders for the championship are Team Spirit and Gaimin Gladiators.
Let's try to figure out which of the Spirit - GG pair will be stronger and earn the first points ahead of the play-offs.
Let's go.
Team Spirit uniforms
Let's open the Spirit vs GG match with an analysis of Spirit's form. In this match they will play as favourites with odds to win around 1.6.
In the first round of DPC 2023: EEU Division 1 Spirit took 2nd place. Back then, the Dragons were prevented from winning by BB Team, who finished the tournament in first place with a 7-0 score. After playing in their home league, Team Spirit visited The Lima Major 2023 where they finished in the top 8.
Later Spirit played the second round of the home league and again finished in the top 2. Going to The Berlin Major 2023 they expected to improve the result of the previous Major, but in the end it got worse: already TOP-12.
Despite the "sluggish" game on the international arena, Spirit still consistently come out of the groups at the Major, and at home they look like the main contender for victory in every game. This was the case in the third season of DPC 2023.
Spirit finished the Eastern Europe final cycle in first place. It took 3 tries to earn the championship in Eastern Europe.
- Team Spirit roster: Satanic, Larl, Malik, Rue, Miposhka.
Spirit visited The Bali Major 2023, but the trip there ended in failure. The team finished in the top 12 and didn't make it to the prizes.
Team Spirit made it to the Riyadh Masters 2023 directly into the group stage. The Dragons finished with a score of 8-6 and the second place in Group A.
Once in the play-offs Team Spirit started their way to the grand finals. In the first match they outplayed Team Aster, after a very difficult Long Srpeg on two maps.
Next was BB Team and almost identical series: Spirit fell behind on all 3 maps, but somehow won 2-1.
In the match to reach the grand finals they played against Liquid. After giving up the first map, they cameback on the second and demolished Liquid on the third. At the Riyadh Masters 2023, Spirit were transformed into macro masters. Not least because of this, Spirit became the champions of the biggest tournament of the year.
Before the Long Sogpeg The International 2023, Spirit became the champions of DreamLeague Season 21. In the grand finals, they ran over Shopify Rebellion with a score of 3-0.
At The International 2023, the Dragons are still unbeaten. Spirit became the only team not to lose a single game in the first stage of the group stage, finishing 8-0. They were in dominant form throughout the tournament, taking home the Aegis of Immortals trophy.
Things were not so smooth in the 2024 season. Spirit finished in the top 4 at DreamLeague Season 22 and won PGL Wallachia Season 1, but at the Riyadh Masters 2024 and The International 2024 they couldn't get above the top 8 and top 12 respectively.
Spirit took part in DreamLeague Season 24. In the renewed lineup, they managed to take the top 3, which can clearly be called a successful result.
The most popular Team Spirit characters
The top of the most chosen Team Spirit characters is headed by Crystal Maiden. The character has appeared in the peak 6 times and has 83% wins.
Apart from Crystal Maiden, Disruptor and Underlord are also appreciated, having been peaked 5 times each with 80% winrate. There was also Skywrath Mage (4 matches, 100% wins), Doom (4 matches, 75% wins), PL, Viper, Slark, Riki appeared 3 times each and has 100% wins.
Gaimin Gladiators uniform
We continue our breakdown of the GG - Spirit match with an analysis of GG's match form. In this match they will play the number two with odds to win around 2.3.
At the DPC 2023 Tour 1 WEU Division 1, the team took the top 2, which opened the way for them to The Lima Major 2023. The first Major season of the tournament was a trailblazing triumph for the Gladiators. Gaimin Gladiators won the tournament without losing a single map in the championship play-offs.
The next DPC cycle in the home league ended even worse than the previous one. Then GG lost to tiebreaker for the top 2, but more than compensated for the failure with a performance on the international stage. Even twice.
On the eve of Long Copega DPC 2023: Tour 3, GG took the championship in two international arenas. They won the $1,000,000 DreamLeague S19 and The Berlin Major 2023, defending their status.
In the third round of the domestic league, Gaimin Gladiators were expectedly one of the top contenders to win the league, but failed to get the regional championship. At the end of DPC 2023: WEU Tour 3 GG took 2nd place, but they made it to the Major, and that's the main thing.
- Gaimin Gladiators lineup: watson, Quinn, Ace, tOfu, Seleri.
There was also DreamLeague Season 20, where in the first group stage GG, as it felt, played half-heartedly. Nevertheless, they made it to the next stage and then won the grand final.
After winning DreamLeague Season 20, Gaimin Gladiators won another title. This time it was the Major a Champions Cup again. At Bali Major 2023, GG were once again beaten by Team Liquid in the grand finals.
GG had high chances to finish all the big tournaments of the year with victories, but at Riyadh Masters 2023 they were unlucky. In the first round of play-offs "gladiators" fell to the lower play-offs grid, where at the stage of TOP-4 Ledge or Talon Esports and left the championship.
Before The International 2023, GG visited DreamLeague Season 21. There they showed not the best performance, having played the championship at the TOP-8 stage. After The International 2023, GG performed well, despite losing the TI 2023 Grand Final against Team Spirit. Next, GG had a top-2 finish at ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023 and a top-6 finish at BB Dacha Dubai 2024.
Gaimin Gladiators made an appearance at DreamLeague Season 22, where they managed to finish in the top 5. Next up was the Elite League tournament, where they again finished in the top 6.
Before playing at PGL Wallachia Season 1, GG played at ESL One Birmingham 2024, where they finished in the top 12. At the Romanian tournament itself, GG entered the play-offs with a 3-1 record.
In the first round of the PGL Wallachia Season 1 playoffs, GG's opponent was Team Liquid. Despite having a nominal advantage, GG failed to take advantage of it and win: 2-1 in Liquid's favour. It seems that after losing to their historical rival GG were unable to recover, as they were demolished by BOOM in the next match, closing the series with a score of 2-0.
GG became the first team from Group A of DL Season 23 to qualify for the play-offs. They also made it to the play-offs and reached the grand finals, but Ledge and Falcons.
Later, GG found themselves in the grand finals again, but only at The International 2024, where they lost to Liquid 0-3.
GG made an appearance at DreamLeague Season 24, where they finished in the top 10 without making it past the group stage.
Most popular Gaimin Gladiators heroes
The most frequent pick was Rubick. The character has appeared in the GG peak 8 times and has an 87% win rate.
Next came Pangolier (6 matches, 83% wins), Doom (6 matches, 66% wins), Keeper of the Light (5 matches, 80% wins), Ember Spirit (5 matches, 80% wins).
We also took Ember Spirit (4 matches, 100% wins), Terrorblade (4 matches, 75% wins).
History of head-to-head meetings between GG and Spirit
Previously, the teams have played each other 5 times. So far there is parity: 3 draws, 1 win for Spirit and 1 win for GG.
Predicted result of Spirit - Gaimin Gladiators at BLAST Slam 1.
In this match I expect a beautiful Dota 2 and anyone can win in bo1. I will bet on GG.
Bottom line: GG wins.
OG.LATAM
EdgeWatch match
