Dota 2: Western Europe start the Lima Major Group Stage strong, other regions stutter

The Dota 2 Lima Major, the first Major of the 2023 Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) season, finally kicked off on Wednesday (22 February). As many expected, Western Europe looks to remain the strongest region in the circuit as its four representatives all finished the first day of the Group Stage atop their respective groups.

The International 11 (TI11) champions Tundra Esports and Gaimin Gladiators are in a three-way tie for the first seed in Group A alongside Southeast Asia's Talon Esports.

Tundra swept EHOME 2-0 but drew against Execration 1-1 while Gaimin Gladiators drew 1-1 with Talon before scoring a 2-0 sweep over TI10 champions Team Spirit.

Over in Group B, Entity managed to become the only team to finish the day with a clean 4-0 record and sole possession of the first seed. Entity scored back-to-back 2-0 sweeps over Southeast Asia's Geek Slate and China's Knights.

Meanwhile, Team Liquid finished the day in a tie for second place in Group B with Shopify Rebellion, with both squads having a 3-1 record. Team Liquid notably faced the group's two Eastern European teams early, sweeping HellRaisers 2-0 but getting forced to a 1-1 draw with BetBoom Team.

How did the other regions perform on Day 1?

But while Western Europe remains dominant, another region seems headed for a slump.

The declining prestige of Chinese Dota has taken another hit as their teams struggled in the opening day of the Lima Major Group Stage.

Three of the four Chinese teams in the tournament — PSG.LGD, EHOME, and Knights — ended the day at the bottom of their respective groups.

PSG.LGD drew 1-1 with South America's Evil Geniuses before getting swept 0-2 by North America's TSM. EHOME and Knights only played one match today, both ending in 0-2 losses to Tundra Esports and Entity, respectively.

Team Aster had the best performance out of all the Chinese teams in the opening day, though that's not saying much. The fourth-placed team at TI11 only managed 1-1 draws with South America's Beastcoast and North America's Shopify Rebellion to finish with a 2-2 record and in a tie with Geek Slate for the fourth seed in Group B.

Another team that had a slow start was Eastern Europe's top seed BetBoom Team.

The superteam was one of the biggest favourites heading into the Major but have stumbled out of the gate after getting swept 2-0 by Shopify Rebellion and drawing 1-1 with Team Liquid.

With that said, BetBoom play most of their hardest Group Stage matches early on and should be able to improve their standing.

Here are all the match results at the end of day one of the Lima Major Group Stage:

Group A:

• PSG.LGD 1-1 Evil Geniuses

• Gaimin Gladiators 1-1 Talon Esports

• Team Spirit 2-0 TSM

• Tundra Esports 1-1 Execration

• Tundra Esports 2-0 EHOME

• Team Spirit 0-2 Gaimin Gladiators

• Execration 0-2 Talon Esports

• PSG.LGD 0-2 TSM

Group B:

• Team Aster 1-1 Beastcoast

• Team Liquid 2-0 HellRaisers

• BetBoom Team 0-2 Shopify Rebellion

• Entity 2-0 Geek Slate

• Entity 2-0 Knights

• Team Liquid 1-1 BetBoom Team

• Geek Slate 2-0 HellRaisers

• Team Aster 1-1 Shopify Rebellion

Here are the standings at the end of day one of the Lima Major Group Stage:

Group A:

1. Tundra Esports: 3-1

2. Gaimin Gladiators: 3-1

3. Talon Esports: 3-1

4. Team Spirit: 2-2

5. TSM: 2-2

6. Evil Geniuses: 1-1

7. Execration: 1-3

8. PSG.LGD: 1-3

9. EHOME: 0-2

Group B:

1. Entity: 4-0

2. Team Liquid: 3-1

3. Shopify Rebellion: 3-1

4. Geek Slate: 2-2

5. Team Aster: 2-2

6. Beastcoast: 1-1

7. BetBoom Team: 1-3

8. Knights: 0-2

9. HellRaisers: 0-4

The Lima Major Group Stage will take place from 22 to 26 February and will feature the 18 participating teams split into two groups of nine teams each fighting for a spot in the Playoffs.

Six out of the nine teams in each group will earn Playoff spots. The Top 4 teams of each group will advance to the upper bracket while the fifth and sixth-placed teams will have to start from the lower bracket.

Meanwhile, the bottom three teams in each group will be eliminated early.

The Lima Major is the first Major of the 2023 DPC season and will feature 18 of the best teams in the circuit battling for their share of the US$500,000 prize pool and 1,900 DPC point pool. For everything you need to know about the Lima Major, check here.

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