Top 3 Favorites to Win the Lima Major
The Lima Major will be the first Dota Pro Circuit Major of the season. The tournament features 18 competitors and some of them are much stronger than the rest. No team is unbeatable, but in a best-of-three, some teams are very difficult to defeat.
Their odds of winning game one are usually above 80% and if that happens, victory is almost a certainty. On the other hand, if they happen to lose the first game, they know how to treat the loss as though it didn’t happen. The mental game of the likes of Team Liquid, BetBoom Team, and Team Aster is phenomenal.
Liquid’s Chances
Liquid finished Tour 1 of Dota Pro Circuit 2023 unbeaten, in the world’s strongest region: Western Europe. That alone should terrify their opponents and make them understand that their odds of winning against this team are very slim.
At The International 2022, Ludwig “zai” Wahlberg and his teammates finished third after losing to Team Secret in the lower bracket Final. After the departure of their position 1 player, Lasse “MATUMBAMAN” Urpalainen, everyone was convinced that Liquid were going to become a mediocre European team.
https://twitter.com/TeamLiquid/status/1620920018526679054
But fortunately for them, they immediately found a strong replacement for him and things seem to be working better than expected. With Michal “Nisha” Jankowski as their new core player, Liquid are already rumored to be the number one favorite to win The International 12.
BetBoom’s Chances
BetBoom released their entire roster at the end of last season, after a disappointing performance at The International 11. Their roster finished 19th – 20th and the bookmaker decided to change its approach.
Five of the strongest players in the region were signed for the project and it immediately became clear that BetBoom would be one of the strongest teams of 2023, not just in Eastern Europe but in the world as well. They finished Tour 1 with a perfect record and only lost two games out of the 16 they played.
At the Lima Major, this is the most likely team to play in the Grand Final, along with Liquid. If they can’t beat the Western Europeans, it’s likely that nobody can.
https://twitter.com/BetBoomTeam/status/1619869522319794176
Aster’s Chances
Aster are China’s best and possibly only hope at the Lima Major. This team finished fourth at The International 11 and made only one roster change since then. In Tour 1, their regional record was 6 W – 1 L. Despite losing twice to PSG.LGD, Aster are likely to do considerably better than their regional rivals in the upcoming tournament.
If everything goes well for Aster, they’re expected to finish in the top four.
Header: Nisha