WBG.XG, BetBoom, Spirit move on at Riyadh Masters

WBG.XG, BetBoom Team and Team Spirit survived and advanced in the lower bracket of the $5 million Dota 2 Riyadh Masters on Wednesday in Saudi Arabia.

In the first round of the lower bracket, WBG.XG defeated Aurora 2-0, BetBoom outlasted Entity 2-1 and Team Spirit swept LGD Gaming 2-0. The three losing sides were eliminated from the tournament.

The Riyadh Masters, part of the Esports World Cup, began with 20 teams, with four eliminated during the play-in stage. The group stage then ran through Sunday, with all matches best-of-two. Teams competed in two round-robin groups of eight.

The playoffs run through Sunday. All playoff matches are best-of-three until the best-of-five grand final.

The winning team will earn $1.5 million and 1,000 Esports World Cup team points, while the runner-up will receive $800,000 and 600 Esports World Cup team points.

On Wednesday, WBG.XG beat Aurora in 38 minutes on red and 35 minutes on green. Guo "Xm" Hongcheng of China racked up a total of 12 kills, 19 assists and just two deaths for WBG.XG.

BetBoom opened with a 33-minute win on red, but Entity answered with a 47-minute triumph on red before BetBoom clinched the match with a 42-minute win on green. Russia's Egor "Nightfall" Grigorenko posted a 8-1-6 K-D-A ratio on the decisive map.

Team Spirit earned a lengthy 62-minute win on green before finishing off LGD in 33 minutes on red. Denis "Larl" Sigitov of Russia averaged a dominant 14.0-2.0-13.5 K-D-A over the two maps.

The tournament continues Thursday with three lower-bracket Round 1 matches:

--OG vs. PSGQuest (lower-bracket Round 1)

--Team Falcons vs. Gaimin Gladiators (upper-bracket semifinals)

--Team Liquid vs. Tundra Esports (upper-bracket semifinals)

Dota 2 Riyadh Masters prize pool (money, Esports World Cup team points):

1. $1.5 million, 1,000 points

2. $800,000, 600

3. $600,000, 350

4. $400,000, 200

5-6. $300,000, 90

7-8. $200,000, 30

9-12. $100,000 -- Aurora, Entity, LGD Gaming, one team TBD

13-14. $70,000 -- HEROIC, beastcoast

15-16. $40,000 -- Blacklist International, MOUZ

17-18. $25,000 -- Virtus.pro, nouns

19-20. $15,000 -- G2 x iG, Azure Ray

--Field Level Media