I guess Ammar “ATF” Al-Assaf was right when he said that his team would either stomp everyone or get stomped themselves at BLAST Slam 1, because Team Falcons just got blown out of the water by a resurgent Gaimin Gladiators in the gauntlet bracket.

BLAST Slam 1: Gaimin Come Back to Life Versus Falcons

That’s right, the squad that finished 10th at DreamLeague Season 24 and 8th at BetBoom Dacha Belgrade just beat the best team in the world two games to none in a single elimination setting. Having previously looked rather mediocre and almost like they were in a steep decline that they couldn’t pull themselves out of in the last two months, Gaimin have bounced back in a big way against a roster that has been nigh unstoppable as of late.

Uphill Battle

It didn’t start very easily for Gaimin, despite the fact that they went 2-0 in the series anyway. It took them almost 67 minutes to put Falcons away in Game 1, owing mostly to ATF himself carrying Falcons on his back as usual. His Broodmother really is something to behold, being the only hero on Falcons’ side to post a positive kill-death ratio.

Unfortunately, that just wasn’t enough. Gaimin leveraged Marcus “Ace” Christensen’s Dawnbreaker and Melchior “Seleri” Hillenkamp’s Enchantress for their immense combined healing output, which allowed them to outlast Falcons in most every teamfight in the late game. Quinn “Quinn” Callahan dished out the damage as always, his Queen of Pain providing the hurt she is so known for.

Game 2 was a smoother affair for Gaimin, as they won almost every lane in the laning phase. Giving Razor to Stanislav “Malr1ne” Potorak proved to be a great decision for them, as Quinn just crushed him in the midlane matchup as Lina. The rest of the game was just a miserable experience for Falcons, and they would never see a net worth lead for themselves through 37 minutes of play.

A Return to Form?

As Dota 2 fans know by now, Gaimin Gladiators have been one of the most consistent teams of the last two years, regularly appearing in major tournament grand final matches alongside their rivals in Team Liquid. They finished second at The International 2024 after falling to said rivals, prompting them to release Anton “dyrachyo” Shkredov from the roster to replace him with Alimzhan “watson” Islambekov.

After the roster change, Gaimin looked forward to the current competitive season, but got off to a slow start as they tried to integrate watson into their system. With their victory over Falcons at BLAST Slam 1, they are looking much better than they did over the last two months. Could this be the start of their comeback into the upper echelons of the professional scene?

The answer will have to wait, just as they await their next match in the playoffs against Xtreme Gaming tomorrow, November 29th.