The Lima Major: Lethal Position 1 players to keep an eye on

The first season of the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) 2023 is done and dusted, with the focus now shifting towards the first Dota 2 major of the year – The Lima Major 2023.

The first ever South American DPC Major, The Lima Major 2023, will boast eighteen teams from across the globe contesting for the bragging rights – a $500,000 prize pool and 1900 DPC points.

Each team will fight a battle on multiple fronts, but only one will eventually claim victory. The outcome depends on the players’ performance, and today we take a close look at some of the players who have the ability to change the game single-handedly.

Over the past few years, Michael "miCKe" Vu has proved to be a versatile player. Dabbling between the mid and carry roles, the Swede has cemented himself as one of, if not the best, players to grace the Dota scene.

Micke’s evolvement as a player has been pleasant to witness. His immaculate game knowledge, map awareness, and ability to overcome an early game deficit makes it a difficult task for any opponent to gain a significant edge.

He is the highest-rated carry player heading to The Lima Major 2023, and for good reason. He averages an impressive 11.48 Kill/Death/Assist (K/D/A).

If you observe closely, Micke loves to participate in team fights – early or otherwise – as evident from the DPC WEU 2023 Tour 1. His death rate of 1.94 is the lowest as compared to his peers and his assist rate is 11.56, higher than his kill rate of 10.69.

The message is loud and clear: Micke’s preferred playstyle is consistent and impactful Dota than explosive and unsteady.

Crhistian "Pakazs" Casanova’s rise to fame has been exponential since Thunder Awaken’s glorious run at The International 2022 – decimating behemoths with ease and entertaining the spectators with an electrifying performance.

Post-TI11 Evil Geniuses entered the South American Dota scene, drawing curtains on their North American legacy, and ushering in a new era for both the players and the organization.

Pakazs is an explosive player through and through. He averages an impressive K/D/A of 11.13 with the focus being more on accruing farm and securing enemy kills.

Pakazs also averages the highest amount of kills at 12.07 among his peers. And he also holds the highest GPM (Gold per minute) and XPM (Experience per minute) at 788 and 894, respectively, than any other carry player in the world – a stark contrast to Team Liquid’s Micke.

Known for his aggression, Pakazs enables his team to gain a significant advantage over the enemy, although, at times it tends to backfire since all of the team’s resources revolve around him.

(Fun fact: Pakazs is known for purchasing Blink Dagger on most heroes, including Queen of Pain, a hero with a natural blink spell.)

Last but not least, Enzo "Timado" Gianoli makes it to the third spot on the list. The Peruvian Dota player has seen incredible development as a player since joining TSM (ex-Team Undying).

Timado averages a decent 9.21 K/D/A. Although not impressive as compared to the likes of Abed and Arteezy, Timado’s conservative playstyle often resonates with TSM’s idealogy – united we stand, divided we fall.

When observed carefully, TSM’s farm and experience distribution between players is better than other teams, especially in the DPC NA 2023 Tour 1, resulting in an all-round team better performance. This might be one of the reasons for the relative deficit with Timado’s low K/D/A when compared to Micke and Pakazs.

However, Timado’s strength is his wide hero pool. Playing unconventional and less popular heroes such as Lina and Bloodseeker, along with the conventional picks, is what gives Timado an edge over others. He often goes unnoticed and that makes him a lethal foe.

The Peruvian is definitely the most underrated carry player heading into the Lima Major. Playing on his home turf might just be the ingredient to catapult Timado to newfound heights.

Boxi and the rest of Team Liquid will be in action at the Lima Major from Feb. 22. Stay tuned to Esports.gg for more Dota 2 news and updates.