Mira’s master plan worked: Neutralizing Quinn’s midlane dominance

With The International 2023 done and dusted, we take a look back at one early statement that really hits home how prepared Team Spirit actually were at this event.

Myroslav “Mira” Kolpakov unveiled his tactical approach to counteract the prowess of Gaimin Gladiators’ ace, Quinn “Quinn” Callahan early before The International. The Gaimin Gladiators, while known for their collective synergy, owed a significant part of their success to their midlaner, Quinn.

He ended up humbled in the TI12 Finals.

Gaze upon the charred remains of Gaimin Gladiators

Mira’s Strategy Unveiled

In a detailed conversation with Ukrainian caster Oleksii “STORM” Tumanov just head of Ti12, Mira elaborated on his game plan to tackle the formidable Quinn. His strategy revolved around aggressive support play, involving frequent ganks in Quinn’s lane.

Mira’s analysis of Quinn’s recent performance suggests a slight dip compared to his earlier feats. He mentioned:

“Quinn used to be strong, but now he’s not as formidable. I’ve figured out that targeting him in the mid, taking him down a couple of times, usually throws him off balance.”

Following a less than stellar performance at DreamLeague Season 21, where Gaimin Gladiators secured a 7th-8th place finish, Quinn was keen on making a strong comeback. He openly admitted to his subpar performance during the tournament on Twitter, expressing his determination to improve in the upcoming matches.

Yet, it was not meant to be.

Credit: Team Spirit

How Did He Pull It Off? – Mira’s Strategy Executed

The TI12 Grand Finals was the first time Team Spirit came up against Gaimin Gladiators at The International. It was a decisive 3-0 series in favor of Spirit and it seems that Mira’s strategy played a huge part. Here’s how he pulled it off.

Drafts

Mira’s hero was drafted after Quinn’s in every game. It’s relatively unusual to pick support heroes later in the draft but Mira needed to know what he was up against. His picks were 9th, 7th and 5th in the draft respectively
He picked Tusk into Quinn’s Pangolier in 2 out of the 3 games. This meant he was able to save multiple members of Spirit from Rolling Thunder during team fights with the Snowball save.
When Quinn drafted Primal Beast in game 2, Mira picked Grimstroke. One of the key strategies for the Gladiators is the manoeuvrability of their heroes. Using well timed Ink Swells, Mira managed to to increase Yatoro’s movement speed, deal damage over time to enemies and ensure a reliable stun. This, coupled with Yatoro’s liberal use of Chronosphere for pickoffs, made a formidable combination.

Early Game

Mira used early aggression to knock Quinn off his game, just as he said he would. Despite not actively targeting Quinn for First Blood, he made regular rotations to the mid lane to support Larl and secure kills.
In 2 out of the 3 games, Mira ensured that Quinn died twice before the 15 minute mark. This threw off Quinn’s farming tempo and made it more difficult for him to catch up.
Snowballing in farm, XP and kills is how Quinn overwhelms opponents. Despite being one of the best midlaners in the world, he is sometimes overlooked in the face of GG’s other carries, Ace and Dyrachyo. Team Spirit’s aggression ensured the carries didn’t have the unstoppable back up of their midlaner in the rest of the game.

Mid/Late Game

Through TI12, GG’s aggressive playstyle saw them sieging high ground by 30 minutes in almost every game. This is no coincidence and it’s something Spirit picked up on.
Using early rotations, making space for Yatoro to farm and well placed vision, Spirit slowed them down enough that it was difficult for GG to dominate.
From there, it all came down to team fights. Team Spirit’s support duo of Mira and Miposhka is one of the best in the world for a reason – they survive fights long enough to get their spells off and pop support items. Choosing a tankier support like Tusk allowed Mira to stun, save and deal nuke damage to GG.

Gaimin Gladiators were the team to beat

With solid run in the lower bracket, and an impressive year in the professional Dota 2 circuit, Gaimin were somewhat favored just before the final despite coming from the Lower Bracket. Their track record over the past year was a testament to their resilience and ability to bounce back.

However, it was not meant to be.. Team Spirit, though having a subdued start to the season, were on a steady upward trajectory. With their successes at the Riyadh Masters 2023 and DreamLeague Season 21 they are the highest earning team of 2023, despite not winning any Majors.