Well, I don’t think any of us saw that coming. Heroic winning 2-0 against Gaimin Gladiators? OG taking a game off Team Spirit? Team Falcons right at the bottom of the table going 0-4? What on God’s green Earth is happening in the Riyadh Masters group stage right now??
Credit: Brendan Dowling / Esports World Cup
It seems all is not well in the land of Dota 2 right now. The Riyadh Masters group stage has only just begun and we’ve seen some truly remarkable results, especially in Group 1, originally pegged as the group of death. Maybe don’t pay attention to the Riyadh Masters power rankings after all.
In recent years, Dota has become a little predictable in that one team seems to be completely dominant for about a season before another takes over their spot.
Last year, Gaimin Gladiators were unstoppable, this year Team Falcons have won the BetBoom Dacha, two iterations of DreamLeague and the ESL One Birmingham Major. But you really wouldn’t guess that as we all limped across the finish line on day 1 of the group stage at Riyadh Masters.
Falcons’ day started out pretty badly and just went downhill from there. It must be said that they faced their two most formidable foes on day 1 but for now, they’re spending the evening at the bottom of the group.
Credit: Liquipedia
Their series against Team Spirit started off with me doubting the Yatoro (Raddan) bald buff, even on his signature Morphling. In my defence, Falcons were diving T3s 12 minutes into the game. But this is Riyadh Masters and the defending champions turned things around in truly spectacular fashion in game 1.
Spirit are well known for turning up when glory (and money) is on the line. But Gaimin Gladiators have lost their touch this year so it was a little more surprising to watch them knock Falcons down to the bottom with a 2-0 victory. Sure, they had to work for it but we really saw some of the old GG shining through.
Everyone loves and underdog story but there’s something comforting about seeing BetBoom Team, Entity, Tundra and Liquid taking the top 4 spots in group B. This is Dota as we know it, even if we don’t love it all the time.
No Dota fan is a stranger to the EU domination of the last few years and group B is no different. It’s really up to beastcoast and WBG.XG to make their comeback and keep other regions in the running.
All this is to say that the Riyadh Masters group stage is off to a wild start. There are still plenty of games to come until July 14th.
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