Cover-Credits:
We already have our first elimination at the Riyadh Masters on Day 2 of Gamers8’s Dota 2 tournament. Team Liquid has been eliminated from the tournament after a very poor outing at the tournament, dropping games against all the teams it has faced so far. The team looked lost without its carry player Lasse "MATUMBAMAN" Urpalainen and will be going home without being able to compete in the playoffs of the $4 million USD tournament.
Coming into Day 2, Liquid had only won a single game (in a 1-1 draw with Nigma Galaxy) but did show promise in its series against TSM, giving hope to its fans. But that was quickly extinguished with OG putting up a devastating performance against the team, quickly securing the series victory.
With other results going against Team Liquid, the team became the first to be eliminated from the Riyadh Masters. The team will have a chance to avoid a last place finish, if it beats RNG in its final group stage game.
A tense standoff between OG and Nigma
AFK Gaming
Things are a lot closer in the other group at the Riyadh Masters. OG, Nigma, and RNG have only 1 win against their names and multiple tied matchups indicating that the disparity between these teams are closer than ever.
OG and Nigma both opened up their days with dominant showings against their opponents and secured easy 2-0 victories in order to set up a cracking showdown to conclude the day. When the two teams faced off against each other, we saw the biggest crowd yet in the tournament assemble expecting to witness great Dota 2 action unfold.
The series did not disappoint. OG took Game 1 in a thriller with Nigma stitching together some amazing teamfights while the former relied upon their tried and tested objective based strategy. OG raced off to a good net worth lead in the mid-game thanks to Artem "Yuragi" Golubiev taking over the game with his Lone Druid. But Nigma pulled off a great wombo-combo utilizing a Dark Seer wall into a Nyx stun to turn the tides. Unfortunately, it proved to be naught as OG managed to find a few key pickoffs to secure the win in Game 1.
Game 2 saw Nigma turn to its Pudge for Amer "Miracle-" Al-Barkawi which proved to be a terror on the map, combining well with Kuro "KuroKy" Takhasomi’s Nyx Assassin to find kills all over the place. It completely shut down OG’s cores, and did not give them space to make a comeback. Using multiple Aegises, it steadily chipped down objectives and finally took the win to draw the series 1-1.
Group A Standings
Team Secret continues its undefeated march
AFK Gaming
With an arena full of cheering fans behind its back, Team Secret continued its dominant run through the Riyadh Masters with two back-to-back 2-0 victories over DeBoosters and PSG.LGD and looks primed to finish on top of its group.
The team’s decision to play with Roman "Resolut1on" Fomynok as a stand-in has proven to be extremely successful, with the player forming an excellent bond with Baqyt "Zayac" Emiljanov to dominate lanes and take over the game. Through the course of the event, Resolut1on has maintained a 11.8/1.6/18.8 KDA in this event and boasts the highest kills, assists, GPM, and XPM amongst all offlaners at this event.
The team will go up against Team Spirit in its final match in the Group Stages. A win here would guarantee a top seed for the team and a direct spot in the semifinals of the tournament.
Group B standings
Tomorrow will be the final day of the Riyadh Masters Group Stages where we find out the rest of the three teams that will be eliminated from the tournament before the playoffs. Stay tuned with AFK Gaming to keep yourself updated about the event.
