Dota 2 Riyadh Masters: Secret mount comeback after winless day one of Group Stage

The competition is heating up in the Dota 2 Riyadh Masters Group Stage as an action-packed day two ended with virtually all teams locked in ties.

All of Group A is tied up, with a three-way tie for first place, a two-way tie for fourth place, and another three-way tie for sixth place. Western Europe's Quest Esports, South America's Evil Geniuses (EG), and China's Xtreme Gaming currently lead the group.

Meanwhile, all but one team in Group B are caught up in ties.

There's a three-way tie for first place between Eastern Europe's BetBoom Team, Southeast Asia's Talon Esports, and China's Team Aster. After that, two teams each are in a tie for fifth and seventh place.

Only Western Europe's Team Secret holds sole possession of their group placement, claiming fourth in Group B after an incredible turnaround following a 0-4 start in day one of the Group Stage.

Here's how all the action in day two of the Riyadh Masters Group Stage went down:

Quest, EG, Xtreme lead tie-laden Group A

In day two of the Group Stage, EG retained their claim over first place in Group A while Quest and Xtreme improved from their day one showings to force a three-way tie for the top spot in the standings.

Quest notably swept The International (TI) 2021 champions Team Spirit before splitting their second series with reigning three-time Major champions Gaimin Gladiators.

After splitting both their matches in day one, Spirit and Gaimin Gladiators were once again forced to ties in day two and are now in a two-way tie for fourth place in Group A.

Meanwhile, 9Pandas, OG, and PSG.LGD are in a three-way tie at the bottom of the standings.

Both OG and 9Pandas split their day two matches while PSG.LGD crumbled and lost all their matches, 0-2. While these three teams are still in Playoff contention, things are only going to get tougher from here.

Secret mount incredible turnaround in Group B

Like Group A, there is a three-way tie for first place in Group B between BetBoom, Talon, and Aster.

After a perfect 4-0 start to the Group Stage, BetBoom continued their dominance in day two with a 2-0 sweep over Team Liquid before getting swept themselves by a resurgent Secret.

On the other hand, Talon and Aster had another 3-1 showing in day two after finishing day one with the same score, letting them stake claims over first place in Group B.

However, the biggest story of Group B by far is Secret's incredible turnaround. After a horrid 0-4 start in day one, it seemed like Secret would end up as one of the two teams that would fail to advance to the Playoffs from Group B.

Instead, Secret authored back-to-back sweeps over TSM and BetBoom to now get in good position for an upper bracket berth in the Playoffs.

On the bubble are Shopify Rebellion and Liquid, who are tied for fifth place with 3-5 records apiece.

Finally, tied for seventh place are TSM and TI 2022 champions Tundra Esports, with both squads only managing 2-6 records so far.

Tundra's struggles seem to be, in part, caused by Martin "Saksa" Sazdov being forced to exit the tournament due to illness. The reigning TI champions will look to continue the rest of the Riyadh Masters with coach Kurtis "Aui_2000" Ling as a stand-in for Saksa.

Here are the results of all the matches in day two of the Riyadh Masters Group Stage:

Group A:

• 9Pandas 1-1 OG

• Gaimin Gladiators 1-1 Evil Geniuses

• Quest Esports 2-0 Team Spirit

• PSG.LGD 0-2 Xtreme Gaming

• PSG.LGD 0-2 Team Spirit

• Gaimin Gladiators 1-1 Quest Esports

• Xtreme Gaming 1-1 9Pandas

• Evil Geniuses 1-1 OG

Group B:

• Shopify Rebellion 1-1 Tundra Esports

• Team Aster 1-1 Talon Esports

• BetBoom Team 2-0 Team Liquid

• Team Secret 2-0 TSM

• Talon Esports 2-0 TSM

• Team Aster 2-0 Tundra Esports

• Team Liquid 1-1 Shopify Rebellion

• BetBoom Team 0-2 Team Secret

Here are the standings after day two of the Riyadh Masters Group Stage:

Group A:

1. Evil Geniuses: 5-3

2. Quest Esports: 5-3

3. Xtreme Gaming: 5-3

4. Gaimin Gladiators: 4-4

5. Team Spirit: 4-4

6. 9Pandas: 3-5

7. OG: 3-5

8. PSG.LGD: 3-5

Group B:

1. BetBoom Team: 6-2

2. Talon Esports: 6-2

3. Team Aster: 6-2

4. Team Secret: 4-4

5. Shopify Rebellion: 3-5

6. Team Liquid: 3-5

7. Tundra Esports: 2-6

8. TSM: 2-6

The Riyadh Masters Group Stage will be held from 21 to 24 July. Two groups of eight teams each, comprised of eight directly-invited teams and eight teams from the Play-Ins, will be battling in a single round-robin to be among the 12 teams advancing to the Playoffs.

The Top 4 teams of each group will earn upper bracket berths in the Playoffs while the fifth to sixth-placed teams will have to start in the lower bracket. Meanwhile, the bottom two teams of each group will be eliminated.

The Riyadh Masters Playoffs will take place from 25 to 30 July with a double-elimination format. All matches in the Playoffs will be best-of-three series except for the Grand Finals, which will be a best-of-five.

The Riyadh Masters 2023 is the biggest Dota 2 event this year outside of the 2023 Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) season, featuring a massive US$15 million prize pool. The champions of the Riyadh Masters will go home with a handsome US$5 million grand prize.

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