The Gaimin Gladiators won the Lima Major title for Western Europe after a clean 9-0 playoff run. After ages of waiting, North America has finally had a team raising the title at a Dota 2 Major.

As the second-seeded team out of the most competitive Dota Pro Circuit area, just behind Team Liquid, Gaimin Gladiators started the Major on a roll. Both teams would go on to dominate the competition, finishing the group stage as the top seeds for their respective divisions, setting up a showdown in the upper bracket finals.

It was intended for that match to be the final measure of the WEU’s dominant players, but due to a medical issue that caused Liquid’s dynamic support player Boxi to leave the competition early, it turned out to be a one-sided contest. Thankfully, Mathis #Jabbz Friesel, a Liquid analyst and former competitive support, was able to step in, but the fast turnaround and talent gap were clear as Gaimin Gladiators’ won the series.

After ending Talon Esports underdog run with their own 2-0 win, Liquid would advance to the finals, but the repeat against Gaimin Gladiators wasn’t any closer than the first encounter.

There were some close spots in Game 1, but Liquid never gave up. However, Gaimin Gladiators completed game two in just under 21 minutes after finishing game 1. And at that moment, it seemed as though the outcome was inevitable – especially after TL handed dyrachyo the patch-defining Lina three games in a row, watched him dominate with it, and put Nisha out of the running with his persistent harassing.

This feeling is partly applicable to the full Major because it appeared that teams established their identities quickly after some initial group experiments.

The Meta always changes, as it does in most competitive games, but it seemed like the teams advanced the farthest had a decent balance of strong hero pools and safe choices that worked well on an established version.

Gaimin Gladiators is evidence of that since they continued to play even after teams banned them in an effort to keep them off of meta faves of their own personal choices. Seleri and the lads would simply take the option that made the most sense to them. Because of their flexibility and extensive exercise on this patch, they succeeded each time.