LGD Gaming and MOUZ won decider matches on Sunday to nab the final two berths in the group stage at Riyadh Masters in Saudi Arabia.
LGD — which needed to win a tiebreaker with G2 x ig for fifth place in Group A on Saturday — swept nouns 2-0 Sunday. MOUZ did the same to Virtus.pro, as the fourth-place teams of both groups were sent packing.
Decider matches were best-of-three, pitting Group A’s No. 4 seed against Group B’s No. 5 seed and vice versa, and marked the conclusion of the play-in stage.
The $5 million Dota 2 event, part of the Esports World Cup, began with 20 teams. Team Falcons, BetBoom Team, Gaimin Gladiators, WBG.XG, Tundra Esports, Team Liquid, OG and Team Spirit received automatic berths into the group stage. The 12 other teams were divided into two round-robin groups to decide the other eight group-stage spots.
The group stage runs Wednesday through July 14, with all matches best-of-two. Teams will compete in two round-robin groups of eight. The top four teams in each group move on to the playoffs’ upper bracket, with the fifth- and sixth-place teams in each group entering the playoffs’ lower bracket.
The double-elimination playoffs run July 16-21. All 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 Sunday, LGD defeated nouns in 45 minutes on red before winning a 91-minute marathon on green. China’s Xiong “Pyw” Jiahan tallied a team-high total of 19 kills — 18 coming in the second map, when he posted an 18-5-19 kills-deaths-assists ratio for LGD.
MOUZ beat Virtus.pro in 42 minutes on red and 50 minutes on green. Stefan “Ulnit” Gavrila of Romania racked up 19 kills for MOUZ, posting a clean 11-0-8 K-D-A on the decisive second map.
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
13-14. $70,000
15-16. $40,000
17-18. $25,000 — Virtus.pro, nouns
19-20. $15,000 — G2 x ig, Azure Ray
–Field Level Media
