Here’s your 30-second summary for this issue of Ancient Tidings:
We desperately need more high stakes international LANs outside the DPC
Nigma Galaxy and Team Secret with a stand-in show that they can bring the fight to the best of opponents, despite their poor showings in the DPC
A refreshing set of talent will be walking us through the Arlington Major
Riyadh Masters 2022
A tournament that went from being under the radar of a lot of people (to be fair, their almost non-existent social media marketing could play a part) to casually raking in hundreds of thousands of viewers quicker than you could say “Refresher-BKB needs to be nerfed”… Riyadh Masters was absolutely a treat for viewers.
After all, who doesn’t want to see names like Team Secret and PSG.LGD duking it out in a LAN environment, with millions of dollars at stake?
Yeah. That’s right. The winner of this tournament bagged 1,500,000 USD. That’s one million, five hundred thousand crisp American Dollars.
The winner of the Stockholm Major (a DPC event, for which teams had to play in online leagues for 6 weeks with one game a week, and in which only the top 8 teams received any form of compensation for their time at the Major) got 200,000 USD.
Anyway. I digress. We can talk about the shortbacks of this iteration of the DPC another time, this issue is about Riyadh Masters.
Two groups of five teams each, featuring 7 invited teams and 3 teams that qualified via regional qualifiers. Bo2s with every member of the group, bottom 2 teams of each group were eliminated (with a casual 100,000 USD for their efforts).
Now that we’re all up to speed… here are the games you should check out.
Nigma Galaxy vs RNG
The number one team from China’s Div 1… vs the best team from WEU’s Div 2. All jokes aside, fans were clamouring for some tough competition for the new Nigma Galaxy squad and you know what… this series (tournament, even) had that in spades.
Team Secret vs Tundra Esports
Both teams were playing without their standard offlaners. Resolution was standing in for iceiceice, and Daxak did the same for Tundra’s 33.
I’m gonna put this here for a bit of background (and a hint, perhaps, of how Team Secret performed):
Super stand-in Resolution. Love to see it.
OG vs RNG
Would OG have won the Stockholm Major if Chinese teams were present? Hmm, who knows. Would those games have been exciting beyond belief? Yes. Without a doubt.
Arc Wardens vs Anti-mages spell doom for your pubs but for teams that like to play fast… it can be incredibly hype. AM blinking in and out, tempest doubles soloing heroes on the other side of the map… Fantastic casting as always by Bkop and Black, glad to see them shine on LAN.
OG vs Team Liquid
Of course you want to watch Ana go up against his old squad. Of course you do.
Team Secret vs PSG.LGD
The lads at Secret really busted out a Techies, against the best team in the world who also have a Techies afficionado in Xinq.
Depending on your affiliation with the hero, you either love this series or hate it.
OG vs PSG.LGD
Spirit Vessel Spectres are… one way of trying to deal with an ATF Huskar, that’s for sure.
Winner of this match would’ve secured a spot in the Grand Finals. Would the winners of the previous Major be able to stop a squad that historically is strong every day of the year… but one?
Team Spirit vs PSG.LGD
PSG.LGD vs Team Spirit on LAN. In a grand finals. Nothing has changed… or has it?
PSG.LGD are your Riyadh Masters champions!
PSG.LGD, once again, making a statement that when it comes to Dota, there’s no one quite like them. Outside of TI Grand finals, of course. Crisp, effortless decision making and versatility. Pleasure to watch their games.
PGL announces the talent lineup for the Arlington Major
As one tournament ends, another looms on the horizon.
Look at that! Quite a different group of people than what we’re used to. Something that only bodes well for the Dota scene.
The BTSea gang makes an appearance on LAN, along with classic duos like Bkop + Black and Lyrical + Trent. Nattea was a fantastic host during the SEA DPC, excited to see her host the desk at a Major!
I featured in a Dotacinema clip!
Saving the best for last. Who’d have thought? I’m the Crystal Maiden in this clip. Which means I barely feature but… still. I’m visible.
That’s it for this issue of Ancient Tidings. If you have any feedback, or perhaps you’d like to start a discussion based on what I’ve covered… comment below!