PSG.Quest pulled off a stunning reverse sweep against Team Spirit, the defending champions, sending them home with just a top 8 finish.
Day 4 of the Riyadh Masters 2024 playoffs was packed with elimination matches. After Weibo Xtreme Gaming was ousted by the BetBoom Team in the opening series, the elimination of Team Spirit came as a shock. Facing PSG.Quest, who won’t be at this year’s The International and came to Riyadh to end the competitive season on a high note, Team Spirit met an unexpected end.
Team Spirit vs. PSG.Quest
Quest is the only team left in the competition that came from the play-in stage. Despite playing the most games so far, they still had a few tricks up their sleeves. On day three, they surprised OG with a Naga Siren Carry. Today, they ran the hero again and revealed their version of a mid lane Sand King for the first time.
However, the series started with one of the biggest stomps witnessed on the main stage at Riyadh Masters. Team Spirit ran over Quest in a 20-minute game that felt decided by minute 10. Returning to their computers, Quest opted for a first pick Sand King, played mid by Tony "No!ob" Assaf, and relied once again on their Naga Siren strategy that eliminated OG.
Spirit tried to counter Naga with an off-lane Doom and Sand King with a Zeus match-up. While their strategy worked in the early laning stage, at the 17-minute mark, PSG.Quest grouped in the mid-lane to force the first big team fight. They wiped Team Spirit and took full control of the map to even the series.
Despite banning Sand King in game one and then losing to it in game two, Team Spirit allowed Quest to use it again in the deciding game. The MENA representative also picked Naga again, forcing Team Spirit into an incredibly fast-paced Dota. No!ob started rotating on his Sand King early in the game, relentlessly hunting for kills across all lanes, preventing Team Spirit’s cores from recovering.
“Our drafts were just not good enough today,” said captain Yaroslav "Miposhka" Naidenov in his exit interview. “We didn’t find the right heroes to play against Quest.”
While Team Spirit heads home with a top 8 finish, PSG.Quest secured a top 6 placement and will return to the stage on Saturday for a MENA battle with Team Falcons, one of the main favorites for the title.