The Riyadh Masters Day 2: New Legends will be born
Thrilling games filled the second day of The Riyadh Masters 2023, sweeping people off their feet. As the fight-or-die lower bracket matches began, teams overcame unlikely upsets to keep their hopes alive. As the day commenced, the former Riyadh Masters Champions and the current International Champions got eliminated, with new blood rising to take the throne. However, the current 2022-2023 titans, Gaimin Gladiators, are still in the tournament. However, unlike their previous runs, they are in the lower brackets. With every match threatening their survival at the tournament, Gaimin’s backs are against the wall. Here’s a summary of actions which happened on day 2.
Quest Esports VS PSG.LGD
The first series of the day was the underdogs, Quest Esports, up against the former champions of The Riyadh Masters, PSG.LGD. Although Quest qualified for the upper bracket, they stumbled in their first match against Talon Esports, which knocked them down to the lower brackets. On the other hand, PSG.LGD qualified for playoffs in the lower brackets. Although Quest Esports has proved they are a strong team, their recent match put doubts on many minds. Thus, many considered it a close series which would go to PSG.LGD’s favour.
The Game
Despite everyone’s beliefs, Quest put on a marvellous performance to take the clean sweep against the champions, not giving them a chance to defend their title. In game 1, they play a fast-paced game with a safelane Juggernaut, a midlane Snapfire and an offlane Primal Beast. PSG.LGD, on the other hand, went with a farm-oriented line-up, which features a safelane Spectre and a midlane Leschrac. Winning the laning stage, Quest snowballed their advantage to the midgame, never taking their foot off of the pedal. Eventually, at 33 minutes, they took game 1. Both teams have slightly the same approach in game 2. However, featuring a Templer Assasin safelane, Quest’s draft was more timing-oriented. Nevertheless, they were able to pull it off as their draft also features space-creating heroes.
Gaimin Gladiators VS Tundra Esports
The most anticipated series of the day was Tundra Esports against Gaimin Gladiators. Tundra makes it out of the groups to the lower brackets with the skin of their teeth. For Gaimin, it’s a different story; they were knocked down to the lower bracket by their arch-nemesis, Team Liquid. Under such intense pressure, the Gladiators preserve, but Tundra crumbles.
The Game
Game 1 heads off to a slow start. However, as the power runes spawn, Tundra started building their momentum. They secure multiple objectives, but as defeats loom near, Dyrachyo steps on his signature safelane hero to carry his team victory at 58 minutes. In game 2, Tundra dominated GG, and they never gave them a chance back into the game. Eventually, Gladiators tapped out at 33 minutes. Game 3 was an epic showdown of both teams. Tundra dominated the early game, and it seemed elimination was knocking on the door of Gaimin Gladiators. However, a glimmer of hope presented as Tundra failed a high-ground push at 38 minutes Gaimin took that window to slither back into the game. At 61 minutes, they took game 3, advancing to the next stage of the lower brackets, where they will be up against Quest Esports.
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