Riyadh Masters Group Stage - Day 2 Recap

The second day of the Riyadh Masters 2023 is finished. Here’s a recap of what happened today!

Group A

We’ve had some minor changes in Group A from the first day. Evil Geniuses, Quest Esports, and Xtreme Gaming lead the group with scores of 5-3. Evil Geniuses had been at the top of the group since yesterday and performed two 1-1 ties today. Quest Esports managed to 2-0 Team Spirit, while Xtreme Gaming surprisingly beat PSG.LGD 2-0.

Team Spirit and the Gaimin Gladiators are behind the three teams, which are tied for 4th and 5th place. Gaimin currently has four ties, leaving them with a score of 4-4. The reigning champions will have to start winning 2-0, as their Upper Bracket spot is yet to be secured.

Meanwhile, the three teams share last place in Group A: PSG.LGD, OG, and 9 Pandas. PSG.LGD started the day at the top of the group but went 0-4 today and is now sitting at the bottom of the group. OG and 9 Pandas were in last place yesterday and still remain there after Day 2.

Group B

In Group B, the BetBoom Team continues to hold their first place spot, but it is now shared with Team Aster and Talon Esports, who had excellent days today. BetBoom started their day with a 2-0 win against Team Liquid but somehow had a very unexpected 0-2 loss against Team Secret. Despite their defeat against the underdogs, BetBoom is still sitting comfortably at the top. 

The two teams with the same score as BetBoom, Talon Esports, and Team Aster played against each other today, which ended up with a draw. The entire Talon team crashed in the middle of Game 2, where 23savage’s Morphling died for free because of the pause. Despite the incident, Talon Esports won the second game to keep the series level. The two teams won their other match 2-0 today to keep them 3-1.

Team Secret, a team that was 0-4 yesterday, is now in fourth place after going 4-0 today. As mentioned earlier, they defeated the BetBoom Team 2-0 and easily beat TSM as well. They have turned up and shown massive improvement in one day.

Shopify Rebellion and Team Liquid are tied for 5th and 6th place with a score of 3-5. The two teams played against each other today and drew their series.

Finally, the bottom two teams are TSM and Tundra Esports. Most fans expected this result from TSM but not from Tundra. Again, Saksa decided to fly back home due to health issues, so Aui_2000 will be standing in for the roster once more. 

Games To Watch

Here are the best matches that happened on Day 2:

• Team Aster vs. Talon Esports - Game 2
• 9 Pandas vs. Xtreme Gaming - Game 2
• Gaimin Gladiators vs. Quest Esports - Game 1 and 2
• Team Spirit vs. PSG.LGD - Game 1

Closing Thoughts

Xtreme Gaming has drastically improved. They went from a team that couldn’t qualify for the Major to a serious competitor. Is this the kaka effect? 

Gaimin Gladiators are not topping their group like we expected them to. They have not started a tournament run through the Lower Bracket this year; will this be their first? 

What happened to Team Secret? They went from being winless to 2-0 at the top of the group. Puppey’s quality leadership is clearly showing.

Tundra still had a deep run in The Bali Major with Aui_2000, but they have a mountain to climb as they are sitting in last place. Can they do it?

All of our questions could be answered tomorrow! Get ready for more hype Dota 2 action.