The 8 group stage teams of Riyadh Masters 2023

Riyadh Masters 2023 is a Dota 2 tournament that rivals The International with its $15 million prize pool. The event is scheduled to take place between July 17-30 and it will be absolutely epic. Apart from its name, everything about it screams TI.

Riyadh Masters brings together 20 of the world’s best teams and some of them have already been revealed. At this point, we know who the group stage seeds will be and nobody is surprised that these teams were offered the chance to start the competition in one of its later stages.

Riyadh Masters group stage participants

Here are the eight teams that have received a spot for the group stage of Riyadh Masters 2023:

• Gaimin Gladiators
• BetBoom Team
• PSG.LGD
• Tundra Esports
• Talon Esports
• Team Spirit
• Evil Geniuses
• Shopify Rebellion

In the case of EG and Rebellion, it’s clear that they’re going through a tough time right now. At the ongoing Bali Major, both of them are struggling. EG are already eliminated while Rebellion are trying their best to avoid ending up the same way.

But the remaining six teams are all formidable and will likely prove their strength in Riyadh. Among them, Gaimin Gladiators, BetBoom, PSG.LGD, and Tundra are the tournament’s favorites.

No doubt, they will be contested by Team Liquid, Quest Esports, and other participants, but they’ve already demonstrated that they can beat anyone.

Everything you need to know about #RiyadhMasters 2023:

✅ Championship of ESL Pro Tour Season 1
✅ Play-ins, group stage & playoffs
✅ 20 teams participating
✅ $15,000,00 prize pool
✅ … more details below! pic.twitter.com/TE37aMmPlb

— Gamers8 Esports (@Gamers8GG) March 13, 2023

The competitive format of Riyadh Masters is very rigorous. Twelve of the 20 teams will go through a play-in stage. This stage will give the tournament eight more teams for the group stage. Determining those eight teams will involve a lot of matches, so there’s a zero chance of group stage spots being offered to teams that don’t deserve them.

The only sad thing about Riyadh Masters 2023 is that it will not feature competitors like Team Secret, Nigma Galaxy, and other such teams that are full of famous players. But, despite this aspect, the event should be fun to watch.

We don’t often see such epic Dota 2 tournaments. In fact, we’ve never seen something like this apart from the editions of The International that took place between 2014 and 2022. A $15 million event that features 20 teams and lasts for two weeks is pretty much the best thing that you can hope for, whether you’re a player or a fan.

Header: Saudi Esports Federation