Cover-Credits:
In a match with elimination a spot in the Riyadh Masters semifinals on the line, Team Spirit and Royal Never Give Up (RNG) battled and the former came out on top. It was a similar story to the other quarterfinal as both teams fought tooth and nail in the first game, but the next two games proved to be one-sided affairs. Earlier, it was PSG.LGD who beat Nigma, and this time Spirit won games one and three to advance to the semifinals. Meanwhile, RNG takes home $200,000 USD in prize money after finishing in fifth-sixth place.
RNG vs Team Spirit: Match recap and highlights
Recap
In game 1, Spirit went for a mid Mars and offlane Bounty Hunter. The laning stage was rather equal, with both teams finding kills. Just as RNG was about to take the lead, Spirit came back with a teamfight win at the 24 minute mark which made the game evenly poised again. As it turned out, this victory was vital since Spirit was able to employ its Bounty Hunter, play aggressively, and draw out a significant lead. RNG, with a mid Zeus, held on for a long time, with some signs of a comeback, but Spirit won in 51 minutes.
In game 2, Outworld Destroyer, a hero not seen in competitive Dota 2 in months, played excellent for RNG against Spirit's heroes of Dark Seer, Disruptor, Timbersaw, and Troll Warlord. While Somnus fared well on Outworld Destroyer in the midlane, RNG crushed Spirit in the safelane. Collapse took a beating on Dark Seer, while Ghost took off on Monkey King. With RNG's heroes outperforming Spirit's, the team never looked back and went on to clinch a convincing game two victory in 36 minutes.
In game 3, Spirit's time to pull ahead in the draft and annihilate RNG. Phantom Lancer, the last pick perfectly summarized Spirit's lineup, and the team played the lanes much better this time. While it was continually killing enemies, RNG was unable to locate any objectives on the map and focused only on delaying the game. Spirit, on the other hand, exploited fantastic timing at the 36-minute mark to cap off a disciplined game three performance.
Highlights
Here are some highlights of the series.
Spirit has had a topsy-turvy outing in the Riyadh Masters 2022 so far, but today it certainly stepped up its game. Despite their recent struggles in some games, Magomed "Collapse" Khalilov and Alexander "TORONTOTOKYO" Khertek were in great shape against RNG. While Secret may be the favorites in the series, Spirit has improved over the course of the event, so it might be a close game.
The final day of the Riyadh Masters will feature three series. Starting the day off will be OG vs PSG.LGD, followed by Secret vs Spirit. There will be a Bo3 grand final between the winners of these two series, and the champion will take home $1.5 Million USD.
