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Last year, after Valve announced the cancellation of Dota Pro Circuit after more than five years, everyone was worried about the game’s professional scene. But this esport is currently thriving. Just in 2024, more than 10 $1 million tournaments will be organized, and one of the biggest is Riyadh Masters.
This competition is part of the Esports World Cup and offers $5 million in prize money. It’s less than last year, but it’s still a lot more than what is offered by most of the other esports tournaments that are part of the same event.
The prize pool distribution gives most of the participants the opportunity to make a lot of money. Usually, in esports roughly 50% of the prize pool is given to the winner. But Riyadh Masters 2024 offers the winning team just 30% of the total amount or $1.5 million. This means that even the 13
th – 14
th place teams will get $70.000.
Riyadh Masters 2024 Dates, Location, and Format
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Riyadh Masters 2024 is scheduled to take place between July 4 – 21. The tournament takes place in Saudi Arabia and brings together 20 of the world’s best teams. Eight of those teams are already known. The rest will be determined based on ETP Interregional Rankings and regional qualifiers.
The format of the competition is very interesting and will generate a lot of matches with
excellent Dota 2 betting odds.
Play-In Stage – July 4 – 7
As you can imagine, the top eight teams in the race will not enter the competition right from the start. The Play-In stage consists of two groups of six teams each. The top three teams from each group advance to the second stage directly. The 4
th and 5
th place teams will fight each other to determine which one will qualify. In total, four teams per group advance to the next round.
Every match during this stage is best-of-two. This format is advantageous for the weaker competitors. In a best-of-three, the odds of winning two games against a stronger opponent are slim, and losing gives you zero points. But in a best-of-two, there’s a high chance that you’ll be able to get one point.
Group Stage – July 10 – 14
The group stage features a total of 16 teams. Once again, the single-round robin and best-of-two formats will be used. But this time, each group will have eight teams instead of six.
The format of the group stage is very forgiving thanks to the high number of teams that advance to the playoffs. Out of eight teams, six will compete in the final stage of the tournament. The top four go to the upper bracket while the 5
th and 6
th go to the lower bracket, where they’ll be waiting for the losers of the first upper bracket round.
Playoffs – July 16 – 21
Apart from the double-elimination format, this stage of Riyadh Masters 2024 will also feature best-of-three matches and a best-of-five Grand Final. The action takes place in front of a live audience, which will make the matches a lot more exciting to watch.
Participants And Favorites
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These are the eight participants that are currently known:
- Team Falcons
- BetBoom Team
- Gaimin Gladiators
- Xtreme Gaming
- Tundra Esports
- Team Liquid
- OG
- Team Spirit
Of these eight teams, every single one of them is strong. Spirit won Riyadh Masters 2023, The International 2023, and one of the most recent Dota 2 tournaments, PGL Wallachia Season 1. Because of this, but also because their players are mentally tough and have
high emotional intelligence, they should not be underestimated.
However, they are not the favorite. Team Falcons have been the strongest team of the season. They won
four Tier 1 trophies in total, and at the other two Tier 1 tournaments they competed in, they finished 2
nd and 3
rd.
Given that the organization is from the MENA region and the event takes place in Saudi Arabia, the audience will be on their side. With this morale boost, it’s hard to imagine how they could possibly lose the tournament.
Two other teams to keep in mind here are Xtreme Gaming and Gamin Gladiators. Both of them are playing well right now and getting good results. Perhaps the
latest Dota 2 patch, 7.36, will allow them to find new ways to beat their rivals.
By Chris Bates
