Team Spirit has cemented themselves further in the history books after taking home a $5 million dollar prize at Riyadh Masters.
Team Spirit has defeated Team Liquid in the Grand Finals of Riyadh Masters 3-1, winning their first major tournament since the PGL Arlington Major in 2022. It was no easy feat, however, as Liquid pushed their EEU opponent’s to the limit in four games, taking the first win, and forcing 40-minute plus matches every other time.
Game one, Liquid’s strongest showing, saw them catch Spirit off guard with a Leshrac pick that all but neutered their opponent's dramatic wombo-combo line-up. The 33-minute matchup would be the shortest of the series, and a mirror of Liquid and Spirit’s game yesterday that saw TL take the first points.
Game two was the turning point. More comfortable with their draft, having secured the safe Batrider selection, Spirit could stall out a more aggressive early-game from Team Liquid. Ultimately, with only the Naga Siren to facilitate the super-late-game Team Liquid couldn’t get things done, despite an admirable attempt.
And from there things went from bad to worse. Even the return of the Leshrac in game three couldn’t right the ship for Team Liquid, and by game four, with a completely new draft, there was just nothing TL could do against Team Spirit’s dominance.
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Record victory for Team Spirit in Riyadh
With their defeat, Team Liquid take home another silver medal at Riyadh. It’s their fifth second-place finish at a Tier 1 tournament this year. But with a 2.5 million dollar prize to take home, it’s hard to feel too bad for them.
Team Spirit will be feeling even better, with their $5,000,000 first-place price. Taking home a full third of the $15 million prize pool, the team has earned more money than this tournament than the entirety of the 2023 DPC season. It’s also their largest prize since TI10, where four of these five players took home a share of over $18 million dollars. In fact, it's more money than they've won in the two years since that win!
In the list of all-time esports prize-winners, it raises those players up at least four positions, placing all four of them in the top-10 highest earning players across all games, and further cementing their place in the history books.
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