Riyadh Masters 2023 is set to unfold July 19-30 and it is the pinnacle event of ESL Pro Tour. Organised in the Saudi Arabia capital by the Saudi Esports Federation, the tournament boasts a $15,000,000 prize pool, which seems impossible to be ignored by the pro scene.
Compared to last year’s The International, for which the teams had to fight a yearlong battle through Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) regional leagues, majors and regional qualifiers, the road to Riyadh Masters, which is shy of just four million dollars from the TI 11 prize pool, is much shorter. However, there are no regional qualifiers for Riyadh, except for MENEA region, the invite system being exclusively based on the EPT results and rankings.
Riyadh Masters 2023 prize pool distribution:
- 1st place: $5,000,000
- 2nd place: $2,500,000
- 3rd place: $1,700,000
- 4th place: $1,200,000
- 5th-6th place: $800,000
- 7th-8th place: $500,000
- 9th-12th place: $300,000
- 13th-14th place: $200,000
- 15th-16th place: $100,000
- 17th-18th place: $50,000
- 19th-20th place: $50,000
A total of 20 teams will get a direct invite to Riyadh Masters 2023. Eight of these teams will come from DreamLeague Season 19 and Season 20.
So far, only Gaimin Gladiators have secured a ticket to Riyadh by winning DL Season 19. They will participate in Season 20 as well. The remaining 17 invites to Riyadh masters will be distributed as follows:
- Best 5 average placed teams at DreamLeague
- 11 regional invites based on EPT rankings
- 1 MENEA qualifier
If Gaimin Gladiators place top 2, as the team is already qualified for Riyadh Masters, the teams invited from average DreamLeague placements would increase from 5 to 6.
Winning the upcoming DreamLeague season should, of course, be the main goal for everyone participating, but placing in the top 5 will also be extremely beneficial. DL Champions, the runners up from Season 20 and the average top 5 placed teams will skip the play-in stage at Riyadh Masters 2033 and will be seeded straight into the group stage.
Riyadh Masters 2023 format
- Eight teams are seeded into the group stage
- One team from DreamLeague Season 19
- Two teams from DreamLeague Season 20
- Top five average placed teams from DreamLeague Season 19 and 20
- Twelve teams are seeded into play-in
- Eleven teams based on the EPT Ranking System
- Each of the six regions will have at least one team
- One team from a MENA qualifier
Play-in stage, July 19-20
- Two groups of six teams each
- Single round-robin
- All matches are Bo2
- Top two teams from each group advance to the group stage
- 3rd to 6th place team from each group will be matched 3rd vs 6th, 4th vs 5th, matches are played from opposite groups
- Winners will advance to group stage
- Losers are eliminated
Group stage, July 21-24
- Two groups of eight teams each
- Single round-robin
- All matches are Bo2
- Top four teams from each group advance to the upper bracket of the playoffs
- 5th and 6th place teams from each group advance to the lower bracket of the playoffs
- Remaining teams are eliminated
Playoffs July 26-30
- Double-elimination bracket
- All matches except Grand Final are Bo3
- Grand Final is Bo5
EPT rankings for each region can be found on the official ESL Pro Tour website HERE.
