Gaimin Gladiators are your 2024 Riyadh Masters champions.
Think back to 2023. Xtreme Gaiming were still a team in development, there was no Falcons owning everyone. And, of course, the Gaimin Gladiators were playing the Grand Final against Team Liquid.
This year, we got the exact same recipe: A miraculous run for Team Liquid through lower brackets. The European powerhouse managed to beat the favorite team, Falcons; and got to the Grand Final. There, they tried everything that worked for them during their lower brackets run — just to see Gaimin Gladiators beat them one more time, becoming the Riyadh Masters 2024 Champions.
Match 1: A stomp by GG
Gaiming Gladiators started strong in the series against their long-time rivals. With a less than thirty-minute stomp, they played with Chen, a hero that many teams ban against them. Team Liquid lost the momentum very early, and were forced to call GG in the midst of a teamfight near a Tier 1 tower.
Match 2: Alchemist + Broodmother is nasty
The second game wasn't about the teamfights, or stomping. It was a game of patience: Gaimin Gladiators strategy to become the Riyadh Masters 2024 Champions started to show. They suffocated Team Liquid for around twenty minutes, leaving them incapable of coming back after Mega Creeps. Every space of the map was taken by broodlings and a fat Alchemist, free farming.
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Match 3: Back to stomping
The last game was as easy as it gets. GG started with an early team-wipe after a failed attempt by Team Liquid to get a kill on tOfu. Next, every attempt by the runner-ups felt weak, as the net worth and item advantage kept growing.
Gaimin Gladiators became the Riyadh Masters 2024 Champions after frustrating Team Liquid's final smoke gank. Since it was "Quinn" Callaham the one starting the fight, Liquid had no time to react.
How many Grand Finals have Team Liquid and Gaimin Gladiators played?
European teams have dominated the Dota 2 scene for a long time. But it was during the year of 2023 that these two teams created one of the most exciting rivalries in a long time. Despite the great showing of skills, it was always GG getting on top:
Date Tournament Winner Score Prize money | 2023/03/05 Lima Major 2023 Gaimin Gladiators 3 - 0 $200,000 | 2023/04/23 DreamLeague S19 Gaimin Gladiators 3 - 2 $300,000 | 2023/05/07 ESL One Berlin Major 2023 Gaimin Gladiators 3 - 1 $200,000 | 2023/07/09 Bali Major 2023 Gaimin Gladiators 3 - 1 $200,000 | 2024/07/21 Riyadh Masters 2024 Gaimin Gladiators 3 - 0 $1,500,000 |
Gaimin Gladiators chose Team Liquid, Team Spirit and Team Falcon's keys to crush. Thus, becoming the Riyadh Masters 2024 Champions, their biggest earning of the year, and also their first championship after their TI2023 runner-up run.
Want to know if they will be able to win The International 2024 too? You will have to follow esports.gg for the freshest news (and clips) out there!
