The ESL One Berlin Dota Major 2023 is underway and the opening day of the five-day Group Stage has produced some exciting results. Western Europe's OG has taken the lead as the only team to manage a perfect 4-0 start despite having to play with two stand-ins, leading the table of Group B. On the other hand, BetBoom Team, Evil Geniuses, and Gaimin Gladiators secured three wins, leading Group A with equal points.

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OG Tops Group B After Berlin Dota Major 2023 Group Stage Day 1

The first day of the tournament saw OG finish atop the standings of Group B. Notably, OG has been forced to tap into Nigma Galaxy's Ivan "MinD_ControL" Ivanov and Old G's Kartik "Kitrak" Rathi as stand-ins after offlaner Dmitry "DM" Dorokhin, team captain Evgenii "Chu" Makarov, and coach Mikhail "Misha" Agatov were sidelined due to visa issues. Despite this shakeup, OG looked strong as it started its campaign in Berlin with back-to-back sweeps over Southeast Asia's Team SMG and China's Xtreme Gaming (XG).

Sitting behind OG is The International 11 (TI11) champion Tundra Esports and North America's Shopify Rebellion, each with a 3-1 record. Both teams drew with TI10 champions Team Spirit and swept China's Invictus Gaming (IG). Spirit and South America's Beastcoast sit in the middle of the pack with 2-2 records apiece.

China has had a tough start in Group B, with both IG and XG at the bottom of the group. IG went 0-4 while XG managed to win only one match out of their four.

BetBoom Team, Evil Geniuses, and Gaimin Gladiators Tops Group A With Equal Points

In Group A, the first day ended with a three-way tie for first place between Lima Major champions Gaimin Gladiators, South American Evil Geniuses (EG), and Eastern European BetBoom Team. Gaimin Gladiators began its campaign for a second Major title this season by drawing with EG before soundly sweeping China's PSG.LGD. After drawing with Gaimin, EG went on to sweep Southeast Asia's Execration. BetBoom drew with China's Team Aster, featuring Sumail "SumaiL" Hassan as a stand-in, and then swept North America's TSM.

China has fared better in Group A compared to Group B, as PSG.LGD and Team Aster are still competitive with 2-2 records apiece. Despite getting swept by Gaimin Gladiators, PSG.LGD bounced back with its own sweep over Execration. Meanwhile, Aster had two draws against BetBoom and Team Liquid.

Sitting at the bottom of the standings in Group A are TSM and Execration, with both teams losing their opening matches. TSM went winless against the Eastern European gauntlet of BetBoom and 9 Pandas, while Execration was routed by PSG.LGD and EG.