Gaimin Gladiators advances to the finals of Riyadh Masters 2024

The El Clásico Upper Bracket Final between Gaimin Gladiators and Team Liquid at Riyadh Masters 2024 concluded with a victory for Gaimin. In the previous season, Gaimin dominated their regional rivals at LAN events. However, Team Liquid emerged victorious in nearly every series against them this season.

tOfu at ESL One LAN event. (Credits: ESL)

Fortunately for Gaimin, at the Riyadh Masters 2024, they once again triumphed over their regional rivals. Gaimin took a clean sweep against Liquid. After the series, Erik "tOfu" Engel, reflected on his team's journey so far this season.

tOfu on Gaimin's challenges in this season

In the first game, Gaimin intentionally gave the Tiny to Team Liquid, and they stomped them. Gladiators perfectly read Liquid's in-game strategy and did not allow them to execute their plan. With everyone on Gaimin being on the same page, Liquid had no wiggle room.

GG's offlaner at The International 2023. (Credits: Valve)

Their efforts to cut creep waves and stall the match allowed Gaimin to claim easy pick-offs. In his post-game interview, tOfu discussed how his team had this incredible synergy and the challenges they faced this season.

"It's actually hard to put into words– there's a lot of factors coming into play from knowing each other for so long, from grinding for so long and also having the success where you eventually just decline in motivational factors but in also small things within the team; like people individually – how hard do you train and how hard do you want it. Other people, they are playing more,they are more eager to win, whereas we already had the satisfaction of the win."

In the second game, Gaimin had a Dazzle midlane. Despite Liquid's best efforts to find pick-offs and secure objectives, they couldn't. As a result, Gaimin closed out the game at 33 minutes.

tOfu reflects on how Gaimin tackles their challenges

Erik noted how Gaimin worked on the issues they had within the team. Fortunately for GG, the new patch encourages players to build aura items, which gives them a huge boost in the tournament.

Fun Fact: TOfu, stands for The One Fluffy Unicorn. (Credits: Valve)

Gaimin's support player discussed his team's game playstyle and how confidence plays a factor in tournaments in his post-game interview.

"I think we had a really rough season. Overall, a lot of things to relearn and improve and just things that set us back. I think we kept learning steadily and just going with it. I wouldn't say that this patch is our thing now. We've always been good at playing together, buying auras and taking fights well which favours us a little bit right now. I think we're just in a really good mood. Great atmosphere, we're just having a good time together, and we don't choke on the stage. We're confident to play; we just want to show what we've been training for, and we're back." 

Gaimin Gladiators have maintained the same roster for over a year. Erik shared how their time together has strengthened the bond among the players, fostering mutual support within the team.

" In a way, we also get to know each other really well because we spent a lot of time together. There can be things where someone had a bad game or when someone put blame on someone. I feel like we're out of there. People just have a bad day, they have a bad day or whatever, and we just build each other up. You also know people's habits. If I wake up late and I show up to breakfast, people know like give him some time; it's all good."

Dyrachyo reflects on the series

After the series, Gaimin's safelaner, Anton "dyrachyo" Shkredov, shared his thoughts in the panel interview. The player explained why it was a one-sided series in his team's favour.

"We laned all three lanes pretty good. Mid, Quinn died a couple times, whatever. But both side lanes is going really well for us. Especially this first game, this Beastmaster had no game. My Ench is free to get gank, and that's what we did– it works out really well."

Dyrachyo at one of the GG series at TI12. (Credits: Valve)

The player also revealed what he discovered about his rivals during the scrims. Additionally, he expressed his discontent with Liquid's playstyle and gave notes on how he handled it.

"I expect to go our safelane like this. We scrim a lot, and I hate this team because they love doing pull, pull, pull – break the lane. Bro, I know what you're gonna do. I'm gonna chase you forever, I'm not gonna let them pull the wave. My supp can farm, I don't care, I'm just gonna chase them. That's what happens."

Dyrachyo on how his team communicates

Dyrachyo also mentioned his team maintained a strong level of understanding with each other. He expressed content working with his current teammates and revealed their confrontation method for communicating with each other.

" We like everyone, and we like how we're working together. The way we are talking as everyone. Like if you don't like something, you can straight up tell it. Everyone is already used to each other, and we understand each other in our team. We know how to fix conflicts."

Dyrachyo at TI12. (Credits: Valve)

With their victory over their regional rivals, Gaimin Gladiators are in the grand finals of the Riyadh Masters 2024. Be sure to tune in to our website for the latest coverage of all the action unfolding at the tournament.

Featured Image Source: ESLOne

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