Team Falcons Eliminates PSG Quest at Riyadh Masters 2024

Dota 2

20 Jul

Ahmed Alghanim

Team Falcons has eliminated PSG Quest from the race to the Riyadh Masters 2024 championship with a hard-fought 2-1 victory in the lower bracket. Despite their exit, PSG Quest secured a commendable $300,000 prize by finishing in 5th-6th place.

Even in victory, Falcons' midlaner, Stanislav "Malr1ne" Potorak, expressed his disappointment, acknowledging their performance was below standards. They felt they played poorly and could have executed their strategies much better.

Team Falcons Win PSG Quest in The Lower Brackets

Will they repeat Birmingham's lower-bracket run? (Credit: EWC)

Series Breakdown and Malr1ne's Reflections

Statistically, Team Falcons were favored heading into the match, having faced PSG Quest nine times in the past year and a half and winning seven of those encounters. This classic showdown between the top MENA region teams in the lower bracket underscored the rising intensity as the Riyadh Masters finals get closer.

PSG Quest is known for often losing the first map of a series only to reverse sweep their opponents. This match initially seemed to follow that pattern, as they dropped the first map but returned to win the second. However, the final and deciding third map did not go in their favor this time.

Game 1: Timbersaw Show

A rough first game for PSG Quest. (Credit: EWC)

In Game One, Team Falcons executed their strategy flawlessly by countering PSG Quest’s draft with Ammar "ATF" Al-Assaf signature Timbersaw pick. Timbersaw set a dominant early game tempo and was unkillable, finishing with an impressive 19-0-8 scoreline. This hero was a key pick and an ideal counter to the support Sven meta. Timbersaw's durability and pure damage output neutralized PSG Quest's lineup effectively.

Team Falcons' draft focused on strong early to mid-game pressure while maintaining late-game potential. In contrast, PSG Quest's draft leaned heavily towards the late game. This difference became apparent as Team Falcons surged to a commanding 15-2 lead by minute 20, snowballing and maintaining perfect map control until the end.

Game 2: Doom the Slark

PSG Quest is a challenge Falcons did not expect. (Credit: EWC)

Game Two began with PSG Quest banning Timbersaw, prompting Team Falcons to make an unconventional offlane pick with Slark. The match was much closer and more contested this time, with Team Falcons focusing on nighttime engagements where Slark excels due to his enhanced night vision. This strategy paid off initially. However, PSG Quest gained control in the midgame after winning a crucial fight which started by landing Doom's ultimate on Slark.

From that point, PSG Quest's game plan was straightforward but difficult to execute: Abdimalik "Malik" Sailau needed to land Doom's ultimate on Slark. He succeeded in doing so, and every subsequent fight saw Slark disabled from the fight by Doom's ultimate, leading PSG Quest to victory.

Malr1ne was disappointed about this game and said: "I would say the main thing is that individual performance and communication were not the best in game two. We were a bit too much in our heads in every fight and we needed to be more patient"

Game 3: All-in on high ground

A stressful series for both teams, but Falcons made it through. (Credit: EWC)

Game Three was the most contested and thrilling game of the series. Falcons controlled the early to midgame, a fact highlighted by their carry, Chaos Knight, who adopted an aggressive approach by rushing Orchid into Dagger. In contrast, PSG Quest's Broodmother opted for a more defensive build with Linken's Sphere into Manta Style to protect herself from Doom.

This allowed Falcons to dominate the map, while PSG Quest maximized their split-pushing tactics using Broodmother and Jakiro's ultimates. The game reached its climax at the 60-minute mark when Team Falcons held a 14k net worth lead. Despite this, PSG Quest attempted a high-ground push with the Aegis, but their aggression backfired, and they were punished by Falcons.

"The third game was the best example of how to play when in a long game. You must stay as calm as possible. Sometimes emotions are going hard, we need to slow down and stay focused."

Malr1ne: "I was about to cry."

Team Falcons show why they are one of the best teams. (Credit: EWC)

After the match, Marline reflected on the series and shared his thoughts:

“I am in a good vibe as we obviously won, but personally I feel a bit slammed because the game was rough for me as my performance wasn’t the best. I was about to cry you know, we were about to get eliminated and my game wasn’t building up good. They were a very strong team, but we just kept helping each other and we finished with the win.”

The match was indeed close and highly contested, raising the question if it was due to their relative inexperience in the lower bracket and the pressure that comes with it. To this, he responded:

"It’s pretty similar to upper bracket but I would say there’s no pressure as it was in the upper bracket, I feel you have nothing to lose when you play in the lower bracket and we just play as best as we can. We already have been in lower bracket before like in Birmingham Major, so we might have the same run, who knows, we’ll see."

No!ob surprised Malr1ne and gained his respect. (Credits: Esports World Cup)

Finally, when asked which midlaners impressed him the most and presented the toughest challenge, he responded:

"Maybe No!ob I wasn’t a big fan of him but to be honest he played good, he even was beating me, so I’ll give him my respect"

Their run in the Birmingham Major followed a similar path in the lower bracket, where they fought their way to the finals and defeated BetBoom Team 3-0. However, significant challenges remain ahead as they will face Tundra Esports in the lower bracket Semi-Finals.