Commentator Vladimir "Maelstorm" Kuzminov shared his opinion on the performance of Chinese teams at the Riyadh Masters 2024 in Dota 2. He was disappointed with all three representatives from the region playing in the play-in stage.
"It's quite obvious that what happened yesterday was no accident; moreover, everyone has been saying for a long time that China has faltered. Only Xtreme remains as a hope. Three teams are showing awful play and results, and AR has already left early. Highly likely, G2.iG or LGD will join them," Kuzminov asserted.
"In Group A, the surprise was Blacklist, not just advancing to the second stage but doing so confidently and beautifully. Everything's justified. Entity is also performing well, at least at this stage," Kuzminov expressed.
"In Group B, I liked PSG Quest, which regrouped after the TI13 qualifiers, and Heroic is high for a reason. But it's important to understand that Group B is much weaker, and these teams might falter further. Aurora was a bit disappointing; I expected more, but there's still time to recover. As for the others, no big expectations were there," Kuzminov mentioned.
Chinese teams showed uncertain play at the tournament. G2.iG and LGD Gaming are fighting for survival in Group A, each with a 2-6 map score. Azure Ray left the championship early without winning any games in four matches. The final standings of the teams will be determined on July 6.
Riyadh Masters 2024 runs from July 4 to 21 in Saudi Arabia. Participants compete for $5 million.