5 major highlights from Dota 2 Riyadh Masters 2024 Grand Final

Gaimin Gladiators routed their regional rivals Team Liquid 3-0 in the Dota 2 Riyadh Masters 2024 Grand Final. Each match was filled with highlights and impressive individual performances. Notably, Team Liquid's trophy drought continues, as they were consistently outplayed and outdrafted throughout the series. Coupled with that, Gladiators' aggressive drafting, which boasted fighting and pushing-based heroes, proved decisive.

Here, we've compiled five key highlights from the Dota 2 Riyadh Masters 2024 Grand Final between these two Western European supergiants.

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5 best highlights in Dota 2 Riyadh Masters 2024 Grand Final

1) Ending a Grand Final with Black Hole and Wall of Replica

Black Hole was used right after Rubick stole a spell (Image via ewc_dota2@Twitch)

The third and final Dota 2 Riyadh Masters 2024 Grand Final match mirrored the first game. GG dominated from the start, with their picks Enigma, Dark Seer, and Chaos Knight posing serious threats from mid to late-game stages. As a result, the blue brand started forcing fights early on. Despite losing multiple teamfights, GG quickly bounced back with clutch Vacuum plays and overall team cohesion.

Without buybacks, Liquid smoked and advanced towards the top Roshan pit, only to be ambushed by GG's heroes. Enigma and Dark Seer dropped their ultimates, Black Hole and Wall of Replica, catching three BKB-activated Liquid heroes off guard, and sealing the Grand Final with a pomp.

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2) dyrachyo's Broodmother carry

dyrachyo's Broodmother destroying Liquid's mid racks (Image via ewc_dota2@Twitch)

In their first Dota 2 Grand Final match, Gaimin Gladiators surprised everyone by drafting Broodmother, typically an offlane hero, as their safelaner. This unconventional pick proved successful as Chen, Invoker, and Beastmaster synergized effectively with an aggressive Echo Sabre-wielding Broodmother.

GG secured a perfect laning stage for Broodmother, which eventually led to a fat spider hunting down enemy heroes on the map. Meanwhile, Liquid's carry, Monkey King, struggled to keep up and counter GG's strategy. Liquid's decision to pick Morphling as a support also backfired severely.

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3) Quinn's magic build Shadow Fiend

Quinn kills the Sand King within a few seconds after Invoker's Tornado (Image via ewc_dota2@Twitch)

Instead of opting for a defensive build, Quinn's SF rushed Kaya and Yasha straight up in the second game of the Dota 2 Riyadh Masters 2024 Grand Final. Squaring off against Nisha's Sand King, SF performed well during the laning stage despite an untimely gank. With Kaya and Yasha, along with a Blink Dagger, Quinn had enough damage to burst down enemy cores.

This magical build forced Nisha to forgo Aghanim's Scepter, which amplifies Sandstorm, and rush Black King Bar. However, this did not stop Quinn, as he secured back-to-back kills on the enemy midlaner with Requiem of Souls and Blink Dagger.

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4) GG begins the Grand Final with a quick victory

Invoker barely survived in the last teamfight (Image via ewc_dota2@Twitch)

GG set the tone for the Grand Final with a roaring victory in the first game. Their carry Broodmother and an active Invoker proved very effective in shutting down Team Liquid. This statement is cemented by the fact that Gladiators forced their rivals to tap "GG" within just 24 minutes.

Invoker's aggressive ganks allowed GG to control the map and gain a significant 22k gold lead. They further dictated the pace of the match by forcing Liquid into unfavorable fights. By the end of the match, Liquid managed to get only four kills, while GG secured 17 kills and claimed a set of racks and all tier 2 towers.

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5) Bad drafting from Team Liquid

Bad drafting was one of the major reasons for Team Liquid's defeat. Morphling as a soft support was undoubtedly the worst pick in the Dota 2 Riyadh Masters 2024 Grand Final, while the Sand King pick for the midlaner severely hampered Liquid's teamfight efficiency. Throughout all three matches, Micke, Liquid's carry, was given out-of-meta/weak carry heroes.

In the final match, the Shadow Fiend pick couldn't scale like dyrachyo's Chaos Knight. Additionally, Rubick was drafted as a hard support to counter Enigma and Dark Seer. However, this did not turn the tide as Insania struggled to steal impactful spells and was of no use in most teamfights.