Riyadh Masters 2023: Underdogs and dark horses

The tides are shifting at Riyadh Masters 2023. Power dynamics are changing and cracks are forming on the Western European stronghold. The three horsemen of Europe, Team Liquid, Tundra Esports and Gaimin Gladiators, do not seem as dominant as many would have thought them to be. None have yet to score any series wins in the group stage thus far as per July 22. On the other hand, the underdogs that many do not have the highest expectations for are popping off hard at Riyadh Masters.

Will this tournament spell the end of Western Europe dominance? Will Gaimin Gladiators finally concede their throne? Perhaps all of that are possible and here are the dark horses that we believe have the best chances to shock the stage.

The pride, hope and final bastion of Southeast Asian Dota, Talon Esports, are on a roll. They have incurred zero losses so far along with two wins and ties. At a 6-2 score, Talon are one of the teams in contention for top seed of Group B.

Talon utilize a combination of strong traditional heroes such as Storm Spirit, Silencer and Terrorblade. On their comfort heroes, they manage to accumulate positive win rates (above 50%). That said, they are unafraid in experimenting once in a while with occasional random outliers like Offlane Meepo.

Xtreme Gaming are one of the teams that came from second place of the Riyadh Masters Play-in groups. They were certainly a team many might not expect to do so well in this tournament considering their prior performances. Naturally, their Play-in experience translated well into the Group Stage where they were able to defeat PSG.LGD 2-0 even when the odds were slightly in favor of the latter. With a 5-3 score, Xtreme Gaming are on a tight race for top of their group along with Evil Geniuses and Quest Esports of Group A.

Elder Titan, Ember Spirit and Bloodseeker seem to be their strongest assets having earned high win percentages on those heroes. It is also important to note that Xtreme Gaming is currently the only team that managed to defeat Quest Esports 2-0.

It seems that Evil Geniuses have recovered from the mess they were in back at Bali Major, where they were one of the teams that left first. Now, they are the last team to represent South America at Riyadh Masters and they are doing quite splendidly. Just like Xtreme Gaming, they have scored 5-3 so far in the Group Stage. They were able to take 9Pandas down 2-0 which no other teams have yet to achieve.

They put a lot of stock in Legion Commander having picked the hero five times and won all of the games. Furthermore, they have played Legion Commander on all lanes (safelane, offlane and midlane). Morphling and Enchantress are the other heroes that have brought them success.

Team Secret are likely the biggest underdogs of the tournament. They have had a horrendous run throughout 2023, coming from a miserable eight place finish (relegation) at the third season of Western Europe Dota Pro Circuit. They had to make radical changes to their squad such as bringing in two Southeast Asian players Armel "Armel" Tabios and Saieful "Fbz" Ilham. Yet, they have created a number of incredible feats at Riyadh Masters such as clutching through the Play-ins and taking BetBoom Team down in the Group Stage. BetBoom currently hold first place of Group B.

Team Secret are now comfortably sitting at the fourth place of their group with a 4-4 score. They still have much to prove. But if they can secure more wins in the final days of the Group Stage, they will likely move forward to playoffs. As of now, Batrider is their strongest hero with 80 percent win rate. Meanwhile, their best hero combination is Timbersaw and Snapfire.

Here are some honorable mentions of other Riyadh Masters underdogs who may be legitimate contenders for the $15 million prize pool.

Keep track of the Riyadh Masters schedule and results here.

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