The Riyadh Masters 2025 Dota 2 tournament, often dubbed a “world championship” by the community, is rapidly approaching its conclusion. If you opted to skip the group stage, you`ve effectively missed the vast majority of the matches, as only eight remain in the playoffs. For those just tuning in, here`s a rundown of the most notable events and facts from the group stage.
The Playoff Format Twist
The primary reason for the limited number of remaining matches is the playoff format: single-elimination. This is a remarkably rare sight in top-tier Dota 2. While seen recently at BLAST with its unique structure, a true classical single-elimination bracket, where all teams begin on equal footing in the same round, hasn`t been used at official premier events since the Kiev Major in 2017. ESL One Birmingham 2018 also featured single-elimination, but it had only 12 teams and a playoff system where teams started at different stages. The first Riyadh Masters in 2022 also used single-elimination, but that event was on a much smaller scale with only ten teams, including one relatively unknown roster. It remains to be seen how this unforgiving format will play out in the modern tier-1 Dota 2 landscape on a stage of this caliber.
A Kaleidoscope of Heroes
The hero pool at Riyadh Masters 2025 has been a pleasant surprise. The tournament has unearthed several heroes that many might have forgotten even existed in the competitive meta, including:
- Phoenix
- Earth Spirit
- Enchantress
- Visage
- Death Prophet
- Doom
- Meepo
- Night Stalker
However, standing out are the truly unconventional picks: a carry Hoodwink played by Pure~ and a midlane Undying by Niku. These are the kinds of experiments you typically only witness in casual matchmaking, usually by dedicated hero enthusiasts. For the professional stage, these picks were not just bold, but… well, you get the idea. Amusingly, both the Hoodwink and Undying picks resulted in victories. And not against pushovers, either – their opponents were formidable teams like Falcons and Xtreme, respectively.
The Curious Case of Crystallis`s Creep Score
Tundra Esports managed to reach the playoffs despite finishing second in their group after tiebreakers. Their carry, Remco “Crystallis” Arets, secured a rather peculiar anti-record during the process. Crystallis finishes the laning stage with the lowest average creep score among all core players at the event. What makes this particularly amusing is that it occurred on a team with a win rate exceeding 70%, contrasting starkly with teams that lost nearly every game. By the ten-minute mark, Arets averaged just 47 creeps. To put that in perspective, that`s 10 less than even Daxak, and most other core players at the event average over 60 creeps by that time. It`s like expertly navigating a minefield while simultaneously tripping over your own feet – successful outcome, questionable execution of a fundamental task.
Phantom Lancer`s Frozen Swings
Remember those childhood dares where you`d lick a frozen metal swing in winter? An equivalent risky gamble emerged for carry players at Riyadh Masters: picking Phantom Lancer. The objective is simple: pick the hero and try to win. So far, only Nightfall has managed to successfully unstick himself from this frozen swing. Elite players like Pure~, Ame, Satanic, and Timado, however, remained firmly “attached.” Notably, Ame and Satanic even attempted the dare twice, to no avail.
As a result, Phantom Lancer ended the first two stages of the tournament with a dismal 14% win rate, one of the worst performances at the event. His average KDA hovered around that of a position five support Rubick – quite the achievement for a supposedly game-winning carry.
Bots vs. Bosses: The Liquid vs. PARIVISION Saga
Team Liquid had a dominant run through the first stage, securing first place with only a single map loss. Yet, they are perhaps best remembered not for their stellar play, but for SabeRLighT-`s post-match interview after another victory over PARIVISION. Some context: PARIVISION`s support, Dukalis, seems to have a particular affinity for SabeRLighT-, having repeatedly called him a “bot” during the grand finals of FISSURE Universe: Episode 5. Liquid won that final 3-0.
At Riyadh Masters 2025, the teams met again, and once more, victory went to Liquid. The overall map score between the two teams ballooned to a crushing 7-0. SabeRLighT-, ever the showman, couldn`t resist referencing this in his post-game interview, dryly noting that PARIVISION likely still considered him a bot, but he was simply hoping to meet them again in the playoffs to push the score to a decisive 9-0.
VP`s Unwanted Record
Virtus.pro`s roster certainly delivered a surprise – they even reached the “top” of a unique leaderboard, albeit not the one they desired. Daxak`s squad became the only team in the tournament to not win a single map, finishing the championship with an 0-8 record. VP also distinguished themselves within their games. In their match against Team Yandex, VP managed a cumulative total of just 12 kills across two maps. Their best performance was arguably on the second map against Aurora, where a last-pick Huskar helped them secure 19 kills, take Roshan, and even hold a temporary gold lead. That brief glimmer of hope quickly faded.
Adding to the list of records, Antares stood out with a KDA of less than one for the tournament. How often do you see that in Dota 2? Usually, such a statistic would be met with harsh criticism in games like CS, but in Dota 2, where simply “being there” for engagements can net you a dozen assists, achieving a KDA below 1.0 feels like a perverse accomplishment. Antares averaged less than one kill *or* assist per game.
A Blast from the Past: Technical Glitches
One might typically ask, “What`s a Dota tournament without technical problems?” However, this season has seen remarkably few major hitches across most events. EWC, it seems, decided to send viewers on a time warp a couple of years back. Thankfully, there weren`t lengthy pauses, but regular sound and video interruptions were present across both the English and Russian broadcasts. The English stream, for instance, experienced visual glitches. The Russian stream even had a moment where commentators first lost video feed and had to cast blind, followed by their microphones being cut entirely.
On the upside, the broadcasts did manage to capture the raw emotions and shouts of players… just not necessarily the Dota players. The tournament`s drive and emotion seemed primarily fueled by the Valorant teams competing nearby, whose battle cries were loud enough to bleed through from the adjacent hall. The only clear, memorable utterance from a Dota player came during the Liquid vs. PARIVISION series: a concise yet impactful “Bots!” This was only audible to viewers of the English stream, however, as that broadcast was on-site, allowing for slightly more direct content and the ability to physically sit commentators together in frame.
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That concludes our look back at the first phase of Riyadh Masters 2025. We hope the single-elimination playoffs deliver even more dramatic storylines, unforgettable moments, and, of course, plenty of memes featuring squashed team logos. We`ll be watching.
