WBG.XG, BetBoom Team and Team Spirit survived and advanced in the lower bracket of the $5 million Dota 2 Riyadh Masters on Wednesday in Saudi Arabia. In the first round of the lower bracket, WBG.XG defeated Aurora 2-0, BetBoom outlasted Entity 2-1 and Team Spirit swept LGD Gaming 2-0. The three losing sides were eliminated from the tournament. The Riyadh Masters, part of the Esports World Cup, began with 20 teams, with four eliminated during the play-in stage. The group stage then ran through Sunday, with all matches best-of-two. Teams competed in two round-robin groups of eight. The playoffs run through Sunday. All playoff matches are best-of-three until the best-of-five grand final. The winning team will earn $1.5 million and 1,000 Esports World Cup team points, while the runner-up will receive $800,000 and 600 Esports World Cup team points. On Wednesday, WBG.XG beat Aurora in 38 minutes on red and 35 minutes on green. Guo "Xm" Hongcheng of China racked up a total of 12 kills, 19 assists and just two deaths for WBG.XG. BetBoom opened with a 33-minute win on red, but Entity answered with a 47-minute triumph on red before BetBoom clinched the match with a 42-minute win on green. Russia's Egor "Nightfall" Grigorenko posted a 8-1-6 K-D-A ratio on the decisive map. Team Spirit earned a lengthy 62-minute win on green before finishing off LGD in 33 minutes on red. Denis "Larl" Sigitov of Russia averaged a dominant 14.0-2.0-13.5 K-D-A over the two maps. The tournament continues Thursday with three lower-bracket Round 1 matches: --OG vs. PSGQuest (lower-bracket Round 1) --Team Falcons vs. Gaimin Gladiators (upper-bracket semifinals) --Team Liquid vs. Tundra Esports (upper-bracket semifinals) Dota 2 Riyadh Masters prize pool (money, Esports World Cup team points): 1. $1.5 million, 1,000 points 2. $800,000, 600 3. $600,000, 350 4. $400,000, 200 5-6. $300,000, 90 7-8. $200,000, 30 9-12. $100,000 -- Aurora, Entity, LGD Gaming, one team TBD 13-14. $70,000 -- HEROIC, beastcoast 15-16. $40,000 -- Blacklist International, MOUZ 17-18. $25,000 -- Virtus.pro, nouns 19-20. $15,000 -- G2 x iG, Azure Ray --Field Level Media
Nov 5, 2022; San Francisco, California, USA; Fans react during the League of Legends World Championships between T1 and DRX at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports