With the exception of The International, which takes place once a year, Riyadh Masters 2022 is the biggest Dota 2 tournament in the history of this esport. The event offers $4 million in prizes, features 10 of the world’s best teams and provides numerous Dota 2 betting opportunities for esports betting enthusiasts.
Riyadh Masters 2022 Info
When you say esports, you don’t really think of the Middle East. You think South Korea, Beijing, Cologne, Seattle, Sweden, etc. But certainly not Saudi Arabia.
And yet, because of Saudi’s recent decision to buy one of the biggest tournament organizers in esports (ESL), we now have important tournaments in the region. And with $4 million in prize money, Riyadh Masters 2022 is guaranteed to attract a lot of attention.
Outside of The International, the largest Dota 2 tournaments in the history of the game had $3 million prize pools. Clearly, someone is trying to make a statement here and the players more than welcome the opportunity provided by the Saudi Esports Federation.
Riyadh Masters Participants
Riyadh Masters features the following 10 teams:
- PSG.LGD
- Team Secret
- Team Spirit
- OG
- Tundra Esports
- Nigma Galaxy
- TSM
- Team Liquid
- Royal Never Give Up
- Deboosters
With the exception of Deboosters, who are practically the local representatives, every other participant is a world-class team. By far, the best represented region is Europe. No less than five teams are from Western Europe and their strength is about to be tested by the Chinese competitors.
Competitive Format
The competitive format of Riyadh Masters 2022 is simple and it makes the tournament look a lot like one of CS:GO. For the group stage, the 10 teams will be divided into two groups of five. The match format here is Bo2 and the group format is round-robin.
The best three teams from each group advance to the playoffs. However, the winners go directly to the Semifinals.
The playoffs stage consists of just five matches: Quarterfinals, Semifinals, and the Grand Final. It’s a bit weird to call the first round of playoffs matches Quarterfinals given that there will only be two of them. But this is standard practice in esports. During the playoffs, every match is Bo3.
The Two Groups
The participants will be split into the following groups:
Group A
- Nigma Galaxy
- Team Liquid
- OG
- Royal Never Give Up
- TSM
By far, the strongest team in this group is RNG. The Chinese have an exceptional roster full of former TI finalists and Major winners: Somnus, xNova, and kaka. It’s hard to lose when you have such a crew, and the opposition, quite frankly, is either going through difficulties or is playing with a stand-in.
Nigma have recently been promoted to Division I of WEU. Team Liquid are playing with a stand-in (ana). OG no longer have Ceb and will need to find the winning formula on their own, during the games. And TSM are just a shadow of their former selves.
Apart from RNG, two other teams that are likely to survive this group are OG and Liquid. It remains to be seen if they can finish ahead of Nigma and TSM. The skill difference is small in each case, so the result difference will be made by experience and tournament form.
Group B
- PSG.LGD
- Team Secret
- Team Spirit
- Tundra Esports
- Deboosters
Quite easily, PSG.LGD, Tundra, and Spirit are the strongest teams in this group. In their current form, Secret have few chances of winning. As for Deboosters, their odds of success at this level are practically null.
Keep in mind that Secret will be playing with a stand-in. Resolut1on had to replace iceiceice.
Tournament Favorites
The biggest favorites to win Riyadh Masters 2022 are the two Chinese teams. Both of them are very strong at the moment and their rosters are some of the best we’ve seen in the Chinese region.
Usually, the top players in China join a lot of different teams, and there are one or two of them per organization. But this year, a lot of great players joined one of 3 organizations. RNG and PSG.LGD are two of them.
Given that this will be a LAN event, it’s hard not to take into account the possibility that KuroKy or Pupppey will surprise us with their drafts and performances. It is well-known that in esports, players are much more motivated to train hard if they know they will need to play in front of a live audience.
Dota 2 is a competitive game that greatly benefits from a live audience, and the strongest players usually perform a lot better under pressure, in front of screaming fans. This makes Nigma a bit better than you remember them. And even Puppey’s crew, Team Secret, could do very well if they survive the Group Stage.
Prizes
The prizes offered by Riyadh Masters 2022 are very impressive and their distribution is quite generous. Far too often we see the winner take it all while the bottom 50 – 75% get breadcrumbs for their efforts. This tournament is quite different.
- 1st place: $1.5 million
- 2nd place: $750,000
- 3rd – 4th place: $425,000
- 5th – 6th place: $200,000
- 7th – 8th place: $150,000
- 9th – 10th place: $100,000
As you can see, everyone will be generously rewarded for the effort of participating, and the winner will receive a huge amount.
Other Considerations
Keep in mind that the matches take place in Dubai. This means that, depending on where you are in the world, you may need to adjust your schedule if you want to watch them.
The group stage lasts for three days while the playoffs stage lasts for two days.