ESL One Berlin Powered by Intel®, the latest Dota 2 Major hosted by the ESL FACEIT Group, has come to an electrifying finale in front of a sold-out Velodrom in Berlin, Germany, as Gaimin Gladiators took the win against Team Liquid in the Grand Final by 3-1. Gaimin Gladiators will take home $200,000 out of the $500,000 total prize pool and also earn vital Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) points for The International (TI) 12 in Seattle, USA, later this year.
Beginning on April 26, 18 of the world’s best Dota 2 teams came together to compete in the ESL One Berlin Group Stage with a single round-robin format. Lima Major and DreamLeague Season 19 winners Gaimin Gladiators got off to a great start, going 5-3-0 and finishing top of Group A, while reigning TI Champions, Tundra Esports, dominated Group B with a 6-2-0 record. OG Esports, Team Spirit and 9Pandas all went unbeaten as well.
The top twelve teams then advanced to the Playoffs, featuring a double-elimination, best-of-three format, after which the eight best squads battled live in front of a capacity crowd at the Velodrom in Berlin.
Gaimin Gladiators and Team Liquid fought through a tough group of finalists. The international roster of Gaimin Gladiators battled through the Upper Bracket, defeating OG Esports and 9Pandas along the way. Meanwhile, the Swedish and Polish players of Team Liquid fought through the lower bracket, beating Tundra Esports, Evil Geniuses, and the relegated 9Pandas to get to the final.
The Grand Final saw the top two teams go head to head, with Gaimin Gladiators taking the win in a back-and-forth game one, before Team Liquid rallied and took a convincing win in game two. Gaimin Gladiators quickly recovered, and won a closely fought game three. They then continued to dominate Team Liquid in game four and took the match to win the coveted ESL One Berlin trophy.
The ESL One Berlin Grand Final saw a peak viewership of over 507,000* people worldwide, who witnessed Gaimin beat Team Liquid via the live broadcast. Furthermore, each day at the Velodrom saw a capacity crowd of 5,000, bringing the overall event attendance to 15,000.
Speaking to this crowd following the win, Erik “tOfu” Engel said “I want to thank everyone for coming, especially my family and friends. I’m really grateful to be able to share this moment with all of you, thank you all for coming!’
The Dota Pro Circuit 2023 Season continues later this month with the Summer Tour 2023, which will ultimately lead to the final Major before The International 12 takes place in October. Furthermore, Dota 2 fans from around the globe can look forward to more high-level Dota 2 action as the ESL Pro Tour for Dota 2 will soon continue with DreamLeague Season 20 taking place online on June 11-25. For more information about the ESL Pro Tour for Dota 2 check out the official website, and follow ESL Dota 2 on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
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