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Gamers8 2023

Riyadh Masters 2023

CompletedTier S

The Riyadh Masters 2023 tournament was one of the largest and most prominent tournaments in the history of Dota 2 and esports in general, as it was played as part of the massive gaming and esports festival Gamers8: The Land of Heroes in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Dota 2Jul 19, 2023 – Jul 30, 2023Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaSaudi Arabia$15,000,000Saudi Esports Federation ESL FACEIT Group

Format

1. Participants & Seeding

A total of twenty teams competed in the tournament, divided into two initial entry tiers:

  • Direct Group Stage Seeds (8 Teams):

    • 1 Team: The champion of DreamLeague Season 19.

    • 2 Teams: The top two finalists from DreamLeague Season 20.

    • (Note: If the DreamLeague Season 19 champion also finished in the top two of Season 20, this slot was reallocated).

    • 5 Teams: The teams with the highest average placements across both DreamLeague Season 19 and 20 (increased to 6 teams if the DreamLeague Season 19 champion placed in the top two of Season 20).

  • Play-In Stage Seeds (12 Teams):

    • 11 Teams: Selected based on the ESL Pro Tour (EPT) Ranking System. Slot allocation per region was determined by a regional Elo rating, ensuring that each of the six major competitive regions had at least one representative.

    • 1 Team: The winner of the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) Qualifier.

2. Tournament Phases

  • Phase 1: Play-In (July 19 – July 20, 2023)

    • The 12 teams were divided into two groups of six.

    • Format: Single round-robin with Best-of-2 (Bo2) matches.

    • Advancement:

      • The top two teams from each group advanced directly to the Group Stage.

      • The 3rd to 6th place teams from opposing groups faced each other in crossover decider matches (3rd vs 6th, 4th vs 5th). The winners of these matchups advanced to the Group Stage, while the losers were eliminated.

  • Phase 2: Group Stage (July 21 – July 24, 2023)

    • A total of 16 teams (8 direct seeds + 8 advanced from Play-Ins) were split into two groups of eight.

    • Format: Single round-robin with Best-of-2 (Bo2) matches.

    • Advancement:

      • The top four teams from each group advanced to the Upper Bracket of the Playoffs.

      • The 5th and 6th place teams from each group advanced to the Lower Bracket of the Playoffs.

      • The bottom two teams from each group were eliminated.

  • Phase 3: Playoffs (July 25 – July 30, 2023)

    • Format: Double-elimination bracket.

    • Match Rules: All tournament bracket matches were played as a Best-of-3 (Bo3), culminating in a Best-of-5 (Bo5) Grand Final to crown the champion.