The Gaimin Gladiators And Team Spirit Series Lived Up To The Hype

The fourth day started with an absolute banger of a match between the two TI finalists. Team Falcons continue their perfect streak, destroying the BetBoom Team’s clean record in the process. Team Aurora continues to struggle while OG picks up a nice win against Shopify Rebellion.

Team Spirit 2-0 Gaimin Gladiators 

The day's first match featured a match between the top two teams of 2023, Team Spirit and the Gaimin Gladiators, and the hype delivered. Though the result was a 2-0 victory for the Gladiators, the match was much closer than you’d think. 

The Gladiators got Mega Creeps at the 37-minute mark, but Yatoro’s Phantom Assassin turned into a raid boss after buying numerous Rapiers. During the high-ground defense, Yatoro was one-shotting the Gaimin Gladiators, preventing them from ending the game. The game was prolonged to a 95-minute match after an all-in play from the Gladiators succeeded. 

Team Spirit looked like they were striking back in the second game, building a 17,000 net worth lead at 32 minutes. However, the Gladiators quickly punished mistakes from the Spirit side, somehow bringing the game back. Team Spirit attempted to deny the comeback and took the lead. But an instant Light Strike Array from Quinn caught Yatoro’s Morphling, killing him twice without buyback. The Gladiators ran down Mid and ended the game, winning the series 2-0.

BetBoom Team 0-2 Team Falcons

Another hyped matchup was next on the list, but the series didn’t deliver the same level of entertainment the previous one did. The two undefeated teams clashed, with the Falcons taking the game 2-0 after a convincing series. 

The Falcons dominated the early game in both maps and converted their advantage to an easy 2-0 victory. The BetBoom Team had no chance and did not put up much of a fight. Skiter, in particular, played a super clean game, ending the series with a combined KDA of 25/1/14. 

Xtreme Gaming 2-1 Aurora

Team Aurora must pick up a win soon, as they are down 0-3. Unfortunately, today wasn’t the day, as they lost their fourth series and are staring down at elimination. 

In the first map, Xxs went for an Off Lane Anti-Mage to counter 23savage’s Medusa. There were a lot of lane-swapping shenanigans, and the game remained competitive going into the mid-game. However, the Chinese side eventually took the game after an impactful performance from XinQ’s Mirana, who had 96% kill participation. 

Team Aurora stomped the second game, only allowing Xtreme Gaming to get three kills, but got stomped back by Ame and the boys in only 26 minutes in the decisive map. 

OG 2-1 Shopify Rebellion

In the final series of the day, Ceb got revenge on Kitrak, who allegedly abandoned OG for his new team, Shopify Rebellion.

After an outstanding performance from Arteezy’s Sven and Yopaj’s Outworld Devourer, Rebellion could convert the first map, shutting down OG’s Io Gyrocopter pairing.

Ari’s Hoodwink became a determining factor in the second map, setting up plays to help OG propel an early advantage into a clean victory. Shopify Rebellion could only manage nine kills in the 30-minute game.

In the deciding map, bzm displayed a spectacular performance on his trusty Templar Assassin paired with the minus armor from Wisper’s Slardar. OG cleaned up the series 2-1 after an excellent 39-minute win. 

With these results, the group has developed into this:

By the end of the second Group Stage, four teams will be eliminated. At this rate, Team Aurora is likely to be the first victim. Team Spirit is sitting with only one win and is also at risk of an early exit.