Dota 2 Lima Major Day 1 Group B Recap

The year’s first Dota 2 Major had plenty of juice on its first day, here's our recap of the Lima Major Day 1 Group B action. 

Just about anyone who follows the pro scene of Dota 2 has been waiting patiently for the Lima Major, and the wait is finally over. Eighteen of the strongest teams in the world are ready to duke it out over the course of a fortnight. The teams have been split up into two groups for the sake of a smoother tournament, with each group following a Round Robin format with Best of 2 series. If you missed out on yesterday’s action, we’ve already covered the matches in Group A, and here’s the breakdown of Group B’s games.

Team Aster vs beastcoast 

The Peruvian side had been through a sizable shakeup, and although many people thought they had become stronger, this was their first big test against a team from outside the region. Meanwhile, Aster has also had a solid start to the year, and is looking to make a statement at this tournament. 

Despite beastcoast having a substantial lead for most of the match, Game 1 between themselves and Aster was a hard-fought, close affair that dragged on till the 57th minute to come to a conclusion. 

Game 2 was pretty quiet until the mid-game, with neither team being able to gain a significant advantage despite beastcoast losing more Heroes than their opponents. However, once Aster gained a large enough lead, they never relented, and ended the game in the 41st minute to level the series 1-1.

Team Liquid vs HellRaisers 

One of the favorites to win the tournament outright, Liquid are in the form of their lives and this was made clear in their first series on LAN since The International 11. On the other hand, Hellraisers squeezed into the tournament in the last EEU slot, and despite picking up OG’s Yuragi as their stand-in Carry, have been unconvincing so far.

Game 1 was over almost as soon as it began with Liquid completely dominating the proceedings. With a kill difference of 20-3, it doesn’t take much for anyone to understand just how one-sided this was, and GG was called within 23 minutes.

The second game featured a bit more of a fight from HR, but it was still a far cry from being competitive as Liquid once again took full control of the map and slowly choked their opponents out before securing the win and a 2-0 series in the 38th minute.

Shopify Rebellion vs BetBoom Team 

Given everything that the Shopify Rebellion roster has been through in the last year or so, most people had doubts about their performance. BetBoom on the other hand had been a force of nature during their Dota Pro Circuit Tour, and would clearly take no prisoners. 

Rebellion quickly showed that they’re far from being washed-out as they worked their way through a difficult Game 1 to seal the deal just shy of the hour mark. BB had the lead for most of the game, but SR kept fighting back. Their hard work paid off in the late game when they managed to win four teamfights in the space of about 10 minutes to close out an important first win.

If the first game had a lot of swings, it had nothing on the second. There were more twists in this game than the average cheesy Hollywood thriller, with both teams wrestling for a decisive advantage. It wasn’t until after the 40th minute that SR got what they wanted, and they finished the game shortly after to start the tournament with a 2-0 result.

Geek Slate vs Entity 

Geek Slate’s brilliant run in the SEA region’s DPC Winter Tour had left many people wanting to see more, but Entity’s experience and skill both showed in spades as they proved once again that they’re one of the top contenders for this tournament.

Despite things being relatively even through most of the early game, Entity were able to take advantage of their fast farming heroes to maintain a bit of a lead. Shortly after the 35-minute mark they won three good teamfights as well as the game after the last of those.

While Game 1 was even for the most part, Game 2 was almost always in favor of Entity. Their defensive playstyle helped their lineup scale, and their superior sense of timing had them strike exactly when required to finish off what was a drawn-out, 62-minute game with very few kills per minute. Nevertheless, it was an important 2-0 win for the European side.

Knights vs Entity 

After beating allegations of cheating, Knigths had made it to Peru for the Major, but their performance here will still be under great scrutiny, and their lack of experience won’t help matters. On the other hand, Entity were fresh off of a win in their first match, and are known for not losing their cool.

Despite a strong showing in their home region, Knights seemed to be dead in the water against Entity in Peru. The WEU side took Game 1 by storm, racking up a ridiculous 47 kills in just 29 minutes to complete a dominant first strike.

Things went from bad to worse for the Chinese side as they fell behind very early in Game 2. Despite managing three kills in quick succession on the enemy Carry to come back somewhat, they couldn’t hold their nerve and ended up calling GG in only the 24th minute. It was the second 2-0 victory for Entity, and they were the only team at the tournament to boast such results after the first day.

Team Liquid vs BetBoom Team 

This was the match everyone had been waiting for — two teams at the top of their game going head-to-head. This was Dota 2 at its mesmerizing, imperious peak, and we highly recommend watching the full highlights to both enjoy and learn.

Coming into Game 1, BetBoom first gained a lead at the end of the early game only to lose it to Liquid a little later. However, a 5-minute run of play gave BB a decisive advantage, and they weren’t going to throw it away. BB won the game 10 minutes later.

Game 2 was another battle where things were almost dead even until well into the mid-game. It’s a mark of just how much can depend on the outcome of one single fight in Dota, because it was precisely this that gave Liquid the opening they needed to take the game by the throat and even the series in the 35th minute.

HellRaisers vs Geek Slate 

Both HR and GS were still reeling from their earlier matches, but in the world of competitive Dota there’s hardly any time to stop and recuperate. The outcome of this match wouldn’t just be a huge morale boost for the winning team, but might dictate the nature of their results the following day.

Sadly for HR, GS outclassed them completely. The game was admittedly pretty even for a while, but after the 20th minute it was irrevocably Geek’s, and they didn’t waste much time to finish it off following some well-executed teamfights.

The second game looks much better for HR in terms of statistical swings than it really was, with two massive teamfight wins being the highlight of their performance in Peru so far. However, they soon lost the plot, and were beaten to the ground by a determined GS who secured a crucial 2-0 result.

Shopify Rebellion vs Team Aster

Rebellion had already done well to beat the likes of BB, but Aster would be a different story. The Chinese side had already beaten almost the same lineup under the Evil Geniuses banner back at the Arlington Major, and they’ve only improved since then. 

Game 1 took a turn for the worse for SR around mid-game, and Aster never really let their foot off the gas and managed to smother the Americans into submission in the 50th minute after almost 13 minutes of losing no Heroes on their side.

SR wasn’t going to give up without a fight, though, and they began building up a strong lead midway through Game 2. A few misplays by the American squad made it look as though the Chinese would come back — and they very nearly did — but Rebellion held strong and managed to barely, barely win the decisive final fight to split the spoils of the series.

Join us again tomorrow for out recap of the second day in Peru, and take a look at our other Dota content while you wait for the matches to begin.