Dota 2 Gamers8 Riyadh Masters has come to an end. As expected, the tournament was quite interesting. During this championship, many teams were able to reveal their true potential. It wasn't clear who would be the winner until the very end. The fact that the play-offs were held in a Single Elimination format increased the tension, as the teams had no margin for error. The huge prize fund of $4 million was extra motivation for the players. The only disadvantage of the tournament was that some teams played with substitutions, which resulted in a less-than-stellar performance. However, substitutions were not a bad thing for all the teams - it turned out to be an extra asset for some of them. Read more about how the Gamers8 Riyadh Masters went in our article.
PSG.LGD - 1st place
PSG.LGD is a strong team that has been considered one of the strongest teams in Dota 2 for the past year and a half. At the last International 10, they were the main contenders to win the title. PSG.LGD made it to the Grand Final very easily, so it seemed like victory was in the bag. But then Team Spirit came into sight. The audacious newcomers reached the final of the tournament through the lower bracket and defeated the Chinese masters by a hard-fought 3-2 score. The entire eSports community followed this clash and was shocked by what was happening as PSG.LGD lost.
Since The International 10, both PSG.LGD and Team Spirit have kept their original rosters, and Gamers8 Riyadh Masters was the first tournament where they met again. Obviously, PSG.LGD wanted revenge for the upsetting defeat. The teams first met within the group stage where the "dragons" lost 2 to 20 without a chance. However, PSG.LGD was hardly satisfied with this result, as winning the group stage means nothing. In a way, it was fortunate that these teams met again during the Gamers8 Riyadh Masters grand final. It was a real revenge match.
This time Team Spirit was able to put up a good fight. They had a great start and a good pick on the first map, but weren't able to gain a big advantage. At one point PSG.LGD fully returned to the game, regained the advantage, and systematically began to force their opponent off the map. In the end, after a long and persistent struggle, the first victory went to PSG.LGD. There was hardly any fight on the second map. The Chinese masters simply destroyed their principal rival and became the champions of Gamers8 Riyadh Masters, earning 1.5 million dollars. A great game from PSG.LGD and a strong claim for PGL Arlington Major 2022. It will be interesting to see if anyone can stop this machine there.
We think it was a great tournament. Hopefully, there will be a Dota 2 major in Riyadh or another Saudi Arabian city in the future. And maybe even The International. We can't say it's the beginning of Chinese teams' dominance yet, but we hope so. We are grateful to the fans who have supported us here and online. Keep rooting for us, because Chinese Dota 2 is the best Dota 2.
Team Spirit - 2nd place
Unlike PSG.LGD, Team Spirit hardly thought about another joint final. The "dragons" had enough problems as it was, because after The International 10, the team lost a lot of ground. They were not even the strongest in their home region, and at the ESL One Stockholm Dota Major 2022, the team finished in last but one place. It even began to look like the "dragon era" was coming to an end.
For Team Spirit Gamers8 Riyadh Masters was the first tournament since TI where the team could show a great game. Although even here, things didn't start so well. First, the "dragons" lost to PSG.LGD, and then drew with Team Secret. The good thing is that Team Spirit at least handled Tundra Esports and Deboosters. Thanks to this, the Dragons advanced to the first round of the play-offs. There they fought hard against Royal Never Give Up (2-1) and Team Secret (2-1), suddenly reaching the Grand Final of the tournament.
The second and third seasons of DPC have been difficult for us. But now I feel the magical atmosphere that was in the team during TI is coming back. We can pick characters we think are good for a particular game and play them. I think we are slowly becoming more confident. This tournament is a good opportunity to try our draft picks against the strongest teams. We are just trying to improve and get better.
Unfortunately Team Spirit lost to PSG.LGD in the final, but this tournament may still be called successful for the team. If lately the "dragons" didn't inspire confidence at all, now we can see that they still remember the taste of victory and are ready to fight even the strongest opponents. Magomed Collapse Khalilov deserves special mention, as he carried every other game on his back. Right now he is the only Team Spirit player who is in top form, just like at TI10. By the way, the team earned $750,000 for second place in the tournament, which is a handsome sum even for the Team Spirit players.
Team Secret - 3-4th place
Team Secret is the biggest discovery of the tournament. The team completely failed Dota Pro Circuit 2021/22 and in three seasons they have never managed to make it even to the top 4. So now Team Secret is preparing for regional qualification for The International 11 and is trying to play with multiple players to ensure they have the best possible squad. Before the Gamers8 Riyadh Masters, Roman Resolut1on Fominok joined the team as an offlaner and surprisingly, he showed a very impressive game.
The old good combination of Resolut1on + Zayac got together in Team Secret's offlane. This duo was very good back in the day, but they've only gotten better with time. It is no exaggeration to say that these players simply destroyed their lane and dragged the team to victory in most matches. It was arguably the strongest lane in the last tournament. There is a huge chance that Clement Puppey Ivanov will kick Daryl Koh iceiceice Pei Xiang from Team Secret and take Resolut1on in his place, as the team has become significantly stronger with him. All that remains is to settle the issue of the carry, and they can confidently snatch regional qualification in Europe.
It is worth noting that early in his career Resolut1on played mid lane and was one of the best at that position. I remember him playing the mid lane for OG when I was a coach and he dominated it. We had strategies built around Resolut1on's heroes only: Shadow Fiend or Invoker. And he was dragging us. After that, he switched to carry, though maybe it was earlier. And I remember him destroying EG in the lower bracket final of TI6. Everyone also remembers Resolut1on's Sven. And now he's showing a great game as an offlaner. Three core positions are impressive, it's hard to repeat. And it says a lot about how flexible he is, how he can adjust to circumstances when necessary and how well he knows the game. Resolut1on has great work ethics - it's one of the best. He is disciplined and pays a lot of attention to training, schedule, and content. This inspires his teammates. Every time Resolut1on joins the team, he pushes it forward.
OG - 3rd-4th place
Gamers8 Riyadh Masters was not particularly memorable for OG. The team finished the group stage in first place with two wins and two draws, ending up directly in the second round of the playoffs. Unfortunately for OG, they faced PSG.LGD and lost 1-2. The match was spectacular and exciting, but on the third map, the European team was completely lost. It's funny that OG lost only one match in the whole tournament and dropped out straight away. The 3rd-4th place is not a bad result for this team, especially considering the difficult opponent in the semifinals. OG would have had a much better chance of winning against any other opponent.
Nigma Galaxy - 5th-6th place
Nigma Galaxy spent the whole of last season in Division II and didn't qualify for the PGL Arlington Major 2022, so Gamers8 Riyadh Masters was an opportunity for them to test their mettle. From the very first match, the team started to show a remarkable game. Finally, we saw the combination of Syed SumaiL Samail Hassan + Amer Miracle- Al-Barkawi in a match against some really strong opponents. And we can say that the tandem is working perfectly. You can see that Nigma Galaxy has started playing very aggressively and confidently again since SumaiL came on board. That's exactly how we remember this team. It is the style of play that made them champions of The International 2017.
In the group stage, Nigma Galaxy beat TSM FTX and drew with all the other teams. This allowed the team to take third place and reach the first round of the playoffs. There, Nigma Galaxy had no luck with their opponent, as it was the tournament's future champion PSG.LGD. Nigma Galaxy put up a decent fight and even managed to win one map, but their opponent was too strong. So the team lost 1-2 and finished 5th-6th at Gamers8 Riyadh Masters. Of course, that's not the best result, but had Nigma Galaxy's opponent in the playoffs been any other team, they could have gotten even further. The players should realize this too, so they're hardly too upset.
Royal Never Give Up - 5th-6th place
Royal Never Give Up was the champion of the winter DPC season in China, so they were expected to do well at Gamers8 Riyadh Masters. However, the team turned out to be not as strong as many might have thought. In the group stage of the tournament, Royal Never Give Up only beat TSM FTX and drew with the other three teams. That's not a bad result, but we would have liked to see more from China's (nominally) strongest team. Nevertheless, Royal Never Give Up managed to get out of the group in second place.
In the playoffs, they went head-to-head against Team Spirit and lost 1-2. It was a close contest, but the "dragons" were more tenacious and won. It can be seen that Royal Never Give Up have a young player with the nickname Ghost who isn't playing well as a carry. When the team is doing well, he plays fine, but as soon as problems arise and one has to move on their own, Ghost fails (and so do his nerves). This could potentially backfire on Royal Never Give Up in the future.
Tundra Esports - 7th-8th place
Tundra Esports is one of the best teams of late, but they completely flopped at Gamers8 Riyadh Masters. This was obviously due to the replacement of captain Neta 33 Shapira, who just couldn't make it to Saudi Arabia. As a replacement, Tundra Esports recruited BetBoom Team's notorious carrier Nikita Daxak Kuzmin. There were two issues with this replacement. First, Daxak didn't play his preferred role and spoke a foreign language with his teammates. Second, Tundra Esports played without their captain and best player, who is usually the foundation of the whole team's play. So it is quite logical that without 33, Tundra Esports could only beat Deboosters. They lost all their other games, which prevented them from even making the group. Let's hope that with 33's return, the team will play at the top level again.
OK ***[whatever], experience is experience. I would have tilted if I played ***[badly] myself and ***[missed] a chance like that.
TSM FTX - 7-8th place
TSM FTX is remembered for being the vice-champion of the ESL One Stockholm Dota Major 2022, but after that, the team's results went downhill. It failed during the summer DPC season in North America (4th place), and now only finished 7th-8th at Gamers8 Riyadh Masters. In the group stage of the tournament, TSM FTX could only beat Team Liquid and lost to all others. The team's games were bland and unremarkable. TSM FTX stood out only because they had to write "GG" right after winning a fight.
In any case, TSM FTX is not playing its best game. Either they got complacent because they got to TI11 early or they simply got lucky at ESL One Stockholm Dota Major 2022. We'll see them next time only in October at the year's biggest tournament.
Team Liquid - 9-10th place
Team Liquid was showing good form at the end of the DPC season, and many expected that they would be able to take a high place at Gamers8 Riyadh Masters, but they didn't. Temporary roster changes are to blame: Anathan ana Pham has replaced Lasse MATUMBAMAN Urpalainen for the tournament. The Liquid's game didn't go smoothly with him, which is quite logical, because ana is a unique player, who needs special conditions. If those conditions aren't met, he simply can't open up. That is exactly what happened to Team Liquid. The team lost to OG and TSM and also drew with Nigma Galaxy and Royal Never Give Up. This result wasn't enough to get out of the group, so Team Liquid dropped out of the tournament, finishing in last place.
However, the saddest part is that Team Liquid should have been preparing for the major and instead spent a lot of time training with ana and performing at Gamers8 Riyadh Masters. At the moment, the team has 890 DPC points. They need to be ranked 7-8 in PGL Arlington Major 2022 to qualify directly for The International 11. However, Team Liquid decided to play in this tournament for some reason, which is unlikely to positively affect the team's playing form.
Deboosters - 9-10th place
Deboosters is a team from Saudi Arabia, with local players and players from Eastern and Western Europe. Frankly, it's a weak team that made it to Gamers8 Riyadh Masters only because the tournament was held in Saudi Arabia. No one expected much from Deboosters. In addition, the team came to the tournament with substitutes. In the group stage, Deboosters lost four out of four matches, each one with a 0-2 score, and left the tournament in 9th-10th place. But even so, the team earned $100,000, which isn't bad. In any case, the young players from Saudi Arabia gained valuable playing experience, which should benefit the region in the future.
