Quest Esports and BetBoom Team emerged to take sole possession of first place in their respective groups on the penultimate day of the Riyadh Masters Group Stage on Sunday.
Quest beat Evil Geniuses, with whom they were part of a three-way tie for first in Group A, and tied with OG to move to the top. BetBoom swept Talon Esports and Team Aster for control of Group B.
Quest, BetBoom and Talon (second place in Group B) have clinched spots in the playoff stage.
The $15 million Riyadh Masters features 20 teams, eight of which qualified directly to the group stage.
The group stage began Friday and features two groups of eight teams. Those matches are best-of-two in a single round-robin format. The top four teams advance to the upper bracket of the playoffs, while the fifth- and sixth-place teams from each group advance to the lower bracket. The remaining teams are eliminated.
The playoffs take place this Tuesday through Sunday and will be double elimination. All matches are best-of-three except for the grand final, which is best-of-five.
The winning team pockets $5 million with $2.5 million going to the runner-up.
On Sunday, Quest defeated Evil Geniuses in 26 minutes on green and 41 minutes on red. They then split a match 1-1 with OG, each team winning on red, while Evil Geniuses lost again, 2-0 to PSG.LGD.
Team Spirit is now alone in second in Group A after a win and a draw. They drew 1-1 with OG before taking down Xtreme Gaming in 20 minutes and 41 minutes, both on green.
BetBoom soared ahead in the Group B standings by beating Talon, their nearest competitor, and Aster. BetBoom notched wins of 60 and 35 minutes, both on green, to down Talon. Then they needed a 65-minute win on red and a 28-minute win on green to dispatch Aster.
Talon recovered by beating Shopify Rebellion to take control of second in the group. Talon won in 31 minutes on red and 21 minutes on green.
The group stage concludes on Monday with eight more matches, one for each team:
–PSG.LGD vs. Quest Esports (Group A)
–Evil Geniuses vs. Xtreme Gaming (Group A)
–Team Spirit vs. 9Pandas (Group A)
–Gaimin Gladiators vs. OG (Group A)
–Talon Esports vs. Team Liquid (Group B)
–Team Aster vs. Shopify Rebellion (Group B)
–BetBoom Team vs. TSM (Group B)
–Tundra Esports vs. Team Secret (Group B)
Group A standings (match W-D-L, map record)
1. Quest Esports — 2-4-0, 8-4
2. Team Spirit — 2-3-1, 7-5
T3. 9Pandas — 1-4-1, 6-6
T3. Gaimin Gladiators — 1-4-1, 6-6
T3. PSG.LGD — 2-2-2, 6-6
T6. Evil Geniuses — 1-3-2, 5-7
T6. OG — 0-5-1, 5-7
T6. Xtreme Gaming — 1-3-2, 5-7
Group B standings (match W-D-L, map record)
1. BetBoom Team — 5-0-1, 10-2
2. Talon Esports — 3-2-1, 8-4
T3. Team Aster — 2-3-1, 7-5
T3. Team Liquid — 2-3-1, 7-5
5. Team Secret — 2-1-3, 5-7
T6. Shopify Rebellion — 0-4-2, 4-8
T6. TSM — 0-4-2, 4-8
8. Tundra Esports — 0-3-3, 3-9
Riyadh Masters prize pool:
1. $5 million — TBD
2. $2.5 million — TBD
3. $1.7 million — TBD
4. $1.2 million — TBD
5-6. $800,000 — TBD
7-8. $500,000 — TBD
9-12. $300,000 — TBD
13-14. $200,000 — TBD
15-16. $100,000 — TBD
17-20. $50,000 — beastcoast, Entity, Virtus.pro, Execration
–Field Level Media