This story was originally published by Dead Spin
Team Liquid and Gaimin Gladiators advanced to the upper-bracket final with 2-1 wins Thursday at the $5 million Dota 2 Riyadh Masters in Saudi Arabia.
Liquid defeated Tundra Esports and Gaimin Gladiators beat Team Falcons in the upper-bracket semifinals.
Also Thursday, PSG Quest eliminated OG from the event with a 2-1 victory in a lower-bracket Round 1 match.
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.
Falcons opened with a 33-minute victory on red before Gaimin Gladiators answered with back-to-back 29-minute wins on green.
Liquid sandwiched 35- and 39-minute wins on green around Tundra Esports’ 41-minute victory, also on green.
After OG opened with a 26-miinute win on green, PSG Quest stayed alive with a 33-minute win on green and clinched the match with a 35-minute victory on red.
The tournament continues Friday with three matches:
–WBG.XG vs. BetBoom Team (lower-bracket Round 2)
–Team Spirit vs. PSG Quest (lower-bracket Round 2)
–Tundra Esports vs. TBD (lower-bracket quarterfinals)
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, OG
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
