The Riyadh Masters qualifiers were full of strong teams and very exciting to watch, but only the best of the best were given the chance to compete in the tournament.
This $5 million Dota 2 event will probably be the biggest in 2024, so every team that didn’t get directly invited had hoped they would qualify. These are the 12 competitors who actually did.
Western Europe
Western Europe had two spots available and the winners were Entity and MOUZ. Unfortunately for Puppey, Team Secret will miss the tournament this year.
Initially, Secret looked strong and won the first two upper bracket matches. But then they lost the upper bracket Final and the lower bracket Final. The defeats came against the team who ended up qualifying for Riyadh Masters 2024.
Eastern Europe
In Eastern Europe, Natus Vincere were expected to win. Virtus.pro also had a high chance of qualifying thanks to their highly experienced roster. In the end, the two teams played in the Grand Final and VP won 3 – 0.
Despite the clean score, every game lasted more than 50 minutes, which proves that the skill difference was very small.
North America
NA Dota only has two strong teams: Shopify Rebellion and nouns. Whenever they play against each other, it tends to be in the Grand Final of a regional qualifier and Shopify usually wins. But this time, Fly and his crew found a way to beat them.
WHAT WE’VE BEEN WAITING FOR ALL SEASON!!
We take down @ShopifyRebels 3-2 and break the streak with a CLEAN game five to close out the finals!
The boys are headed to the Riyadh Masters, GGs! ⌐◨-◨ pic.twitter.com/4WtWEZ7S3d
— Nouns Esports ⌐◨-◨ (@nounsesports) June 3, 2024
South America
South America was offered two qualification spots but the number of teams who could have realistically qualified was six. In the end, HEROIC and beastcoast were the winners.
MENA
In the MENA qualifier, PSG Quest and Nigma Galaxy had to play against each other, as they often do. And once again, Quest emerged victorious. KuroKy will have one last chance to compete in a big event in 2024.
If his team can win the regional qualifier for The International, most likely against Quest, he will finally go back to TI after five years of absence.
China
In China, the three favorites were G2.iG, LGD Gaming, and Azure Ray. All three of them qualified for Riyadh Masters. The first two won two consecutive matches in the upper bracket. The third one lost against LGD and had to win the lower bracket.
Southeast Asia
In the SEA region, Aurora and Blacklist International did exactly what everyone expected and finished in the top two. However, BI had to win four consecutive matches in the lower bracket to earn their spot. This happened because they lost the first upper bracket match against Bleed Esports.
Header: ESL, Esports World Cup Foundation
