The first day of the Dota 2 Bali Major tournament group stage ended with a huge surprise. In group B, Gaimin Gladiators took a beating on game 1 in a 135-minute game against Quest Esports the Empire vs Vega team (140 minutes) were recorded as the longest Dota 2 match. This is, nevertheless, a new record in the competitive LAN Dota 2 match, with the previous record being held by Navi versus Digital Chaos (91 minutes).
The Gaimin Gladiators are one of the teams in Group B that the public favored to win the Bali Major tournament. Their stability as the top three team in the WEU Division 1 Dota 2 Pro Circuit tournament, as well as their victory in the two Major tournament this season, convinced the spectators that the new WEU giant power is parallel to none. However, multiple teams have demonstrated that Gaimin isn’t flawless and can be defeated through strong willpower.
After beating the Dota 2 Pro Circuit SEA champion, Bleed Esports, Gaimin Gladiators faced the surprise team of this season, Quest Esports, at the end of day 1. Although most pandits predicted a landslide victory for Gaimin, Quest displayed exceptional mental toughness and stunned Gaimin in the first game.
In the opening 35 minutes, both teams exchanged blows, with Gaimin pulling ahead thanks to Quinn “Quinn” Callahan’s Timbersaw and Anton “dyrachyo” Shkedrov’s Bloodseker. Nonetheless, Quest was bolstered in the 53rd minute by Aybek “TA2000” Tokayev’s Medusa, who was able to get the core items and halt the Gaimin team’s relentless drive. Ammar “ATF” Al-Assaf and Tony “No!ob” Assaf, the other two players, gradually pushed back and cornered Gaimin within their own base.
Both teams pressed each other in the next 50 minutes and continued to secure objectives, during which Roshan was slain 11 times. As the 105th minute approached, the players on both teams decided to increase their aggresivity and doubled down on Rapier. Unfortunately for Gaimin, their Bloodseeker and Timbersaw have rendered ineffective in the late game as they failed to overcome Quest, which have better level scaling heroes. Gaimin, who had no way of defeating the Quest team’s heroes, eventually lost the first game at 135 minutes with a score of 48-64.
Despite losing in the most grueling game of their season, Gaimin’s team shown amazing mental toughness and counterattacked in game 2. Gaimin won the next game by a score of 25-13 thanks to better draft picks. Gaimin and Quest completed the game as the fourth and fifth teams in group B with one victory and one tie at the moment, making the group the most competitive so far at the Bali Major.
