Will Western Europe still be the strongest Dota 2 region in the Bali Major?

For much of the 2023 Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) season, Western Europe has reigned as Dota 2's most dominant region.

Leading Western Europe's dominance has been Gaimin Gladiators, who won back-to-back Major championships at the Lima Major and the Berlin Major. Their biggest rivals, Team Liquid, also finished second in both tournaments.

Only one Western European team did not finish in the Top 6 in both Majors too. In Lima, Entity finished in 5th-6th place while The International 2022 (TI 2022) champions Tundra Esports only managed a 9th-12th placement. In Berlin, Tundra were able to improve and finish in 5th-6th place alongside OG.

But in DreamLeague Season 20, Western Europe's dominance over the DPC is seemingly coming to an end. And it may be a preview of how the competition will shake up in the upcoming Bali Major.

While DreamLeague Season 20 isn't part of the DPC, it is one of the biggest Dota 2 events of this year.

From 11 to 25 June, 16 of the best teams from all over the world will be battling for their cut of the US$1 million prize pool as well as two slots in the US$15 million Riyadh Masters tournament in July.

Western Europe had six teams competing in DreamLeague Season 20: Gaimin Gladiators, Team Liquid, Tundra Esports, OG, Entity, and Team Secret. Of those six squads, only Gaimin Gladiators managed to survive the tournament's first group stage.

In that Group Stage, Liquid, Tundra, and Secret were seeded into Group A while Gaimin Gladiators, Entity, and OG were placed in Group B.

Liquid finished last in Group A with a 5-9 record. Tundra and Secret both had 7-7 records and could have advanced to the next stage, but both teams lost to Evil Geniuses in a three-way tiebreaker.

Over in Group B, Gaimin Gladiators finished with an 8-6 record to qualify for the next stage. Meanwhile, OG and Entity were dead last in their group with 6-8 and 3-11 records, respectively.

It should be noted that some of those Western European teams were not playing at full strength. Tundra had to play with multiple stand-ins while both OG and Secret had recently undergone roster changes.

Entity has also been underperforming as of late, only finishing sixth in the DPC's Summer Tour regional league for Western Europe. With that said, it's hard to explain how Liquid went from being the second best team in the world to almost being an afterthought.

Whatever the final result for DreamLeague Season 20 ends up being, it's looking like Western Europe's dominance over the DPC will be all but over come the Bali Major.

Western Europe's representatives in Bali include Gaimin Gladiators, Tundra, Liquid, and newcomers Quest Esports.

While Gaimin Gladiators are still the heavy favourites to emerge as champions in Bali — and it's hard to bet against them lifting their third-straight Major trophy there too — the rest of the Western European contingent aren't looking so hot.

Tundra is unlikely to play in Bali with Israeli offlaner Neta "33" Shapira due to the visa requirements imposed by the Malaysian government on Israeli citizens. Not only that, the defending TI champs are already guaranteed to a direct invite to TI 2023.

Given that they won't be at full strength and have nothing other than prize money to play for, we can safely assume Tundra isn't gonna make much of a splash in Bali.

Liquid are also guaranteed a direct invite, so there's little incentive for them to go all-in at Bali... unless they really want to get one over Gaimin Gladiators. But even then, they will need to play themselves back into form at the Major itself after their demoralizing performance at DreamLeague.

Meanwhile, Quest will be playing for DPC points but is largely unproven outside of Major champion offlaner Ammar "ATF" Al-Assaf.

With Western Europe seemingly declining, other regions are also looking much stronger compared to how they were earlier this season.

Eastern Europe is looking the most likely to supplant their Western peers, with 9Pandas — who finished third in the Berlin Major — and TI 2021 champions Team Spirit leading the way.

China is also looking to reclaim its lost prestige behind their newly-crowned emperor Sumail "SumaiL" Hassan and Team Aster.

PSG.LGD's revamped roster is also finally shaping up to be worthy of the organisation's reputation. The legendary former PSG.LGD trio of Lu "Somnus" Yao, Yang "Chalice" Shenyi, and Xu "fy" Linsen are also making their comeback in Azure Ray.

Southeast Asia will also be looking to capture a Major championship on home soil with the likes of Bleed Esports and Blacklist Rivalry finally living up to their potential.

Let's not count out the Americas too, with Shopify Rebellion up North as well as Evil Geniuses and Beastcoast down south also relishing the opportunity given by a weakening Western Europe.

While I won't say Western Europe will definitely decline at the Bali Major (they have as good a chance as any to just go back to stomping everyone), I'd argue it'll be a win-win for everyone if they do indeed fall off.

All season long, the rest of the DPC have been looking to Western Europe in an effort to emulate their distinct (and successful) style of play. But if the other regions start contesting that dominance, that opens the window for other styles to take the spotlight.

I'm all for watching the Western European brand of safe and effective Dota, but some variety is always nice.

And, if nothing else, the gap between Western Europe and the rest of the DPC closing only serves to foster stronger overall competition.

The Bali Major will take place from 29 June to 9 July and features 18 teams of the best teams in the DPC fighting for their cut of the US$500,000 prize pool and the 3,500 DPC point pool.

Those DPC points will go towards securing all-important direct invites to The International 2023. This year's iteration of Dota 2's annual multi-million dollar world championship tournament will be held in Seattle this October.

For everything you need to know about the Bali Major, check here.

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