Gaming Gladiators win DreamLeague S19
Finally, after two weeks of intense matches, Gaming Gladiators confirmed their strength by winning DreamLeague Season 19. Given the circumstances, this was an amazing achievement that puts them in a very special category. They are now expected to finish in the top three at the Berlin Major and The International 12.
One of the things that happened during DreamLeague S19 was the launch of Dota 2 patch 7.33. The teams were forced to adapt to a completely different game and proved to be remarkably versatile. For most players, it will take months just to understand all the changes. For Gladiators, it took less than a day to figure out a way to win.
https://twitter.com/GaiminGladiator/status/1650237688069468160
DreamLeague S19 Results
DreamLeague S19 started with 16 competitors who were fighting not just for $1 million in prize money but also for a spot at Riyadh Masters, a tournament that will likely offer millions of dollars in prizes.
Gaimin Gladiators played in group A and finished with a record of 3 W – 4 D – 0 L. Two other teams had the same result: Shopify Rebellion and Evil Geniuses. The fourth team that qualified for the second stage of the tournament was TSM (0 W – 6 D – 1 L).
In group B, the qualified teams were Team Liquid, Tundra Esports, beastcoast, and OG. Only Liquid looked capable of winning the trophy.
In stage 2 of DreamLeague S19, Liquid and Gladiators proved to be much stronger than the other competitors, each of them winning six of their seven matches. They were closely followed by Rebellion (5 W – 2 L) and Tundra (4 W – 2 L).
These results meant that Liquid and Gladiators were going to start in the upper bracket of the playoffs, leaving Rebellion and Tundra in the lower bracket.
The first two matches ended with the anticipated results. Liquid defeated Gladiators (2-0) while Shopify defeated Tundra (2-1). Given the result of the stage 2 match between Shopify and Gladiators, a lot of people thought that Artour “Arteezy” Babaev would finally break the curse in the lower bracket Final. But his team got crushed.
In the Grand Final, the battles were intense. Gladiators won game 1 after 52 minutes thanks to a very farmed Slark. Liquid responded with Sven and Necrophos in game 2 and won in 35 minutes.
Game 3 took 57 minutes and was won by Gladiators, who picked Muerta and Puck after Liquid allowed them to get through. In game 4, Liquid once again won relatively quickly with Sven in the carry role. The battle lasted just 28 minutes.
https://twitter.com/TeamLiquid/status/1650237317997801472
Game 5 decided everything and Liquid choose to pick some very unusual heroes relative to what they had played during the tournament. Bristleback, Shadowfiend, and Keeper of the Light was their foundation. And they failed with it.
By minute 20, the game was practically over. Gladiators perfectly used their Slark and Templar Assassin to get a big networth lead and could no longer be stopped.
Header: ESL