Gaimin Gladiators Face Challenges at The International 2023
The highly successful Gaimin Gladiators have faced unexpected difficulties at The International 2023. Despite their previous major victories, they find themselves starting in the lower bracket, which presents a tough challenge. The reason for their struggles, according to Gorgc, is simple: their strategies were the best but got hit with nerfs before the event, making it harder for them to succeed.
“What happened to Gaimin Gladiators? I mean, it’s kind of simple. They played with the best strategies, won with them, and then those strategies got nerfed. So now, when it’s hard to exploit them, they’re back at square one,” he said during his stream on Oct. 19.
This is not a new phenomenon for top Dota 2 teams. Teams like Team Secret and the old Virtus.Pro have experienced it before. They would dominate throughout the year, only for Valve to nerf their favorite heroes and items right before The International, leading to their struggles in the tournament.
For this reason, Gorgc believes that winning extensively before The International can actually be a disadvantage. Nevertheless, he still acknowledges that the Gaimin Gladiators are one of the best teams in the tournament and have a chance to perform better.
Quinn excels on heroes like Ember Spirit, Void Spirit, Leshrac, Puck, Storm Spirit, and Templar Assassin. However, these heroes are not currently the strongest. Additionally, his preferred hero this year, Pangolier, was nerfed shortly before TI 2023. He has tried playing it and some of his other favorites, but he has had to opt for different heroes like Earthshaker, Necrophos, and Sniper.
Dyrachyo and Seleri, the strongest carry and support duo in the scene throughout the year, have had to adapt to playing with new meta heroes like Chaos Knight and Phoenix or Faceless Void and Jakiro instead of their usual favorites. Beastmaster, the hero Ace excelled with all year, was also nerfed.
However, it’s not all bad news for the Gaimin Gladiators. Although they narrowly missed securing a spot in the upper bracket, history has shown that teams have gone from the lower bracket to winning it all. So, it’s too early to count them out.
Gaimin Gladiators, The International 2023, Dota 2, gaming, esports