The Chinese Qualifier for Riyadh Masters 2024 is over and three teams from this region will join Xtreme Gaming at the great event. These teams are G2.iG, LGD Gaming, and Azure Ray.
In other words, all of the qualified and there were no upsets. Here’s how they did it.
G2.iG
We’re heading to Riyadh 😎 pic.twitter.com/uUNqJltuMY
— G2 Dota (@G2DOTA) June 2, 2024
G2.iG played every game to perfection and qualified with two solid victories. The first one was against Team Bright while the second one was against KEV. Neither of these two teams was among the favorites and their experience doesn’t even compare to that of players like Monet and xNova.
The drafts were very diverse. G2.iG managed to avoid picking the same carry twice, so their opponents had no idea how to tackle them. One game lasted 20 minutes. The other three, around 40.
These results do not tell us very much about G2.iG’s strength relative to that of the other Riyadh Masters participants because they were obtained against regional underdogs.
LGD Gaming
LGD Gaming played the first round of the upper bracket against Spiky Gaming and won in less than one hour in total. Game 1 lasted 23 minutes. Game 2, less than 33.
The squad led by y` was so confident against this opponent that they picked Pudge in game 1. In game 2, they played a bit more standard but picked Weaver for their carry.
The second match was a clash between two giants. LGD encountered Azure Ray and sent them to the lower bracket with no remorse. It seems that after the departure of Somnus and XinQ, Azure Ray are no longer the team that finished 4th at The International 2023.
They’re obviously still strong, or at least strong enough to finish 4th at BetBoom Dacha Dubai, 3rd at Elite League S1, and 5th – 6th at DreamLeague S23. But certainly not as strong as last year.
Azure Ray
In the lower bracket of the tournament, Azure Ray had to play against Team Zero and KEV. Both times they struggled and lost a game, but eventually won thanks to their superior experience. Still, losing games against the likes of KEV is a bad sign.
At Riyadh Masters 2024, the world’s best Dota 2 teams will be present and all of them are vastly stronger than China’s underdogs.
The meta is still evolving and we will likely see at least one more patch until the big tournament starts, so maybe Azure Ray will manage to get their act together in the next four weeks.
Header: LGD
