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It normally takes a newly formed esports team 12-18 months to gel and experience success, however GAIMIN Gladiator’s Dota 2 team only formed in January 2022 and they are already rising in the Dota 2 rankings, qualifying in the Top 14 for the ESL One DOTA 2 Major this May in Stockholm, increasing their following and generating significant brand awareness for GAIMIN.
Arseny Kuzminsky recently interviewed the founders of GAIMIN Gladiator’s about their Dota 2 team and its formation. His article as well as interviews are republished in readiness for the DOTA 2 ESL One Major at Stockholm.
Dota 2 was a refreshing breath of air in 2020. Vikin.gg. They are Vikin.gg. Upon closer acquaintance, it turned out that the players and the coach have unique chemistry — a mixture of strict discipline, fatherhood, brotherhood, and strong friendship.
Then, Vikin.gg disbanded. With almost the exact same core, Team Tickles returns as Team Tickles.
Melchior “Seleri” Hillenkamp, Miroslav “BOOM” Bičan and Daniel “ImmortalFaith” Moza from the previous roster joined forces with Marcus “Ace” Hoelgaard, Erik “tOfu” Engel and Anton “dyrachYO” Shkredov. New players, same playstyle. Fixed on team interaction, it’s impossible to single out the strongest player among the top five. And there’s no reason to, honestly. GAIMIN Gladiators function as a clock. Every gear has a role and as soon one loses, the other four take cover. GG illustrates how a team can become strong by having great players interaction and balancing their power.
I talked with GAIMIN Gladiators’ top management, to let them explain why Team Tickles was their choice. As well as a little bit more about their history, investments, future plans and why they are confident in the Dota 2 roster’s success.
Canadian Roots
GG’s foundation sounds like a typical Silicon Valley start-up story — four friends passionate about what they love decided to launch their own project. Before GAIMIN gladiators, there was another.
“We were getting a little older, couldn’t find as much success in professional gaming, so we started OCG Esports around three years ago,” Alex Cuccovillo, GG’s Vice President, says. I had a chat with him, Shawn Porter (CEO), and Nick Cuccovillo (President).
Shawn met Alex while they were playing Dota. They have an extensive professional history in MOBAs. The former was involved in commentating and coaching during Dota 2’s early days. Nick was involved in FPS gaming, as well as talent acquisition. So they have adequate knowledge and network in each esports sphere, giving them an upper edge thanks to the the fact they already know the ins and outs of esports not just from a business point of view, but from a player’s point of view.
Alex says they were forced to quit competitive NA Dota 2 because there was no money and tournaments. OCG Esports began signing players and helping them. They also found investors and financial partners. OCG Esports was renamed GAIMIN Gladiators in January 2020.
GAIMIN Gladiators is a Canadian-based team. They are now looking to the international stage and have acquired EU, SEA, and Brazil teams.
But apart from the Gladiators side with around five people on staff and a couple of contractors, there’s the parent company Gaimin.io, the corporate side of the umbrella of the whole company. “They take more of the corporate level and to be honest, we relay back some of the business stuff back to them and they either approve it or don’t. And so it works on both ends,” Nick tells me. “They confirm all the transactions or whatever decisions are made for the GG side”.
Alex continues: “We’ve always had a plan. We always knew that at one point we’re gonna need to get investment.. No organization has really made it without some type of increase of investment. Therefore, we had an action plan. The investment decks we created were already in place a while ago and are still being updated. We met some of the investors a couple of times through talks; and then a few months later, they figured out that esports is a great way for this application.”
GAIMIN’s Mission is basically this; “PASSIVE AUTONOMIC MONETIZATION FOR GAMERS”. It’s a play-as-earn type of platform: get game rewards for free and do whatever you want with those rewards.
“Although we have an element of Crypto and NFTs within our platform, we are a game engine by design.” Nick explains, with the platform’s core focus the “utilization of processing power, not the mining or purchasing of coins, nor NFTs.”
GAIMIN’s software instead “simply uses Blockchain Elements for background working, and should be viewed as a game engine, with the ability to launch into Private Server Games, including Minecraft and GTAV, watch Content Creators via Streams and practice on your favorite games with skills training.”
He’s also quick to clarify: “Under no circumstances would GAIMIN be requesting people to purchase a currency or to purchase NFTs.” Establishing the platform’s core use case is “actually as a processing power aggregator, to provide processing power for video rendering and AI Production.”; aspects of the technology’s use which are completely separate from most crypto-based ventures.
It took a long time to take over and change the brand. From the initial meeting with GAIMIN, it took over a year for the deal to be closed. We came up with a plan that benefited them as well in terms of getting user acquisition for the platform, and they really liked it.”
“They invested in us more than the teams we had”, Alex says. “We had some teams that were definitely pretty good and some very high level players, but we didn’t have anyone who was on the level of what our current Dota 2 team is. Different teams were identified at various cost points. We also looked into what each team could bring to the table, how they would succeed, and which metrics we wanted. We showcased what our plan would be over the next year and a half, what teams we’d bring on and why we’d bring them on, and what kind of potential they have. So there was honestly a lot of background work as well, which was another part of the reason why they really liked what we were doing”.
Acquiring team tickles
Shawn, Alex and Alex are both Dota veterans and they were interested in returning to Dota because of its high viewership. They saw Team Tickles during the middle season, which was around the end of December and early January.
Alex continues: “We had a talk with a few teams. We were interested not because they were good, but because they brought a brand new company to the table. They played against OG, Secret, and Team Liquid. All these teams allow a new organization to get that brand awareness very quickly, rather than if you’re in a lot of other regions. We also found it a major decision-maker. The young player roster also had great potential.
However, you have a better chance of being able to take part in Majors or TIs if you sign a North American Team. But we also decided to search for other countries, such as Europe, CIS and Southeast Asia. Our eye caught Team Tickles, and we pursued them.”
GAIMIN Gladiators Dota 2 is their greatest asset and best investment. “We had the budget to sign a Tier-1 team in any respective game.
Alex continues: “Dota 2 actually is still doing really well in terms of viewership. And especially now that live events are back, that’s huge for us. However, after analyzing the data we concluded that it was an easy decision to join Dota.
Bootcamping Stockholm and Plans
GAIMIN Gladiators stayed at Relog Media for the entire DPC league. Instead of players traveling around and trying to figure out visa issues, GG’s management decided to keep them in Belgrade for as long as possible. They have excellent connections with Relog, who were “so, so helpful” on this.
Nick underlines the importance of bootcamping and its impact on players’ success:
“Everyone thinks bootcamp is about 24 hours grind and practice. There are many aspects to bootcamp that the players have never met. It was a great opportunity for the players to get together, build team bonds and establish a culture of cooperation. It is essential that we have at least one initial engagement if we plan to compete in the Majors or a major event such as TI. A psychologist was also assigned to them once per week so they could discuss things with him. It’s important for mental performance and mental fortitude, so they won’t get exhausted or drained.
“We were a top-two team in the past and the regional champions,” Alex says. “And there were four slots for the EU. Although OG came as a shock, they do have a strong roster. They surprised us, but we knew that our team would make it to Major. But ultimately, we had faith, immortal faith, you know.”
Watch the Gladiators at Stockholm beginning May 12, and then see what else they have to offer. https://www.esl-one.com/dpc/
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