The Gaimin Gladiators took the Western Europe Dota Pro Circuit regional finals against Team Liquid on Sunday. The Gladiators have been running through their competition ever since they debuted their roster at the beginning of the season, and now they have taken the Western Europe Regional Finals against Team Liquid – the first-place team in the Western Europe DPC regular season – in a 3-1 win. Despite their domination of the bracket, there were several storylines to focus on throughout the regional final.
Gaimin Gladiators were the surprise of the season
The Gaimin Gladiators were the most surprising team in the Western Europe DPC this season. Previously known as Team Tickles, they took over the spot that Viking.gg had in the upper-division after the team disbanded.
Team Tickles were picked up by the Gaimin Gladiators organization right before the regional finals began. Going into the event the favorite was Team Liquid, who dominated the regular season and took first place with a 6-1 record. Both the Gaimin Gladiators and Team Liquid were always a cut above the rest of the competition. It was no surprise that both teams met in the grand finals of the regional finals.
In the grand finals, Gaimin Gladiators were able to rout Team Liquid, mainly through the magnificent play of Marcus “Ace” Hoelgaard and Erik ”tOfu” Engel. TOfu’s Rubick was able to steal several game-changing ultimates, such as Disruptor’s Static Storm and Luna’s Eclipse in both games three and four. Gaimin Gladiators were also one of the few teams to pilot the Io and Storm Spirit combo in the mid lane – a combo that is currently 5-0 throughout all regions according to Dotabuff.
We are your DPC WEU Regional Champions. We take the series 3-1 over @TeamLiquid !!
⚔️ @dyrachyoo
⚔️ @boomdota
⚔️ @AceDota
⚔️ @tOfuDota2
⚔️ @Seleri4096
🛡️ @ImmortalFaithd #AgainstAllOdds #ForGlory #ForHonor #WeFight pic.twitter.com/lnReh2XEP8— GG | Gaimin Gladiators ⚔️ (@GaiminGladiator) February 13, 2022
Team Liquid were dominant in the Western Europe regional finals, despite the loss
Team Liquid have been the best team in the Western Europe DPC since the beginning of the season, only dropping one series to NGX.
The two main players that should be highlighted in Team Liquid’s incredible run are Ludwig “zai” Wåhlberg and Samuel “Boxi” Svahn. Despite Boxi having to switch positions, their lane has been incredibly dominant all season.
Zai’s Spiritbreaker and Mars, in particular, have had a great showing, with his Spiritbreaker having a 71% win rate over 7 games. His Beastmaster has also been a problem, commanding 11 bans over the course of the regular season and regional finals.
Weaver and Io still dominate the meta
Across all regions of Dota, the time lapsing bug seems to be a constant. In almost every game of the regional finals, Weaver was either been picked or banned. Weaver’s strength stems from its Aghanim’s Scepter upgrade, where Time Lapse can be used to bring a hero back to the state it in was five seconds ago. Weaver’s job as a support is to continue saving carries as much as possible. This made it one of the most popular picks throughout the regional finals.
Weaver and Io had a 100% contest rate in the Western Europe regional finals. Io was picked or banned in the first phase in all games, and Weaver followed close behind with an 83% first phase contest rate (14/15 games) according to datdota.
