20 teams head to Riyadh Masters, set to begin on July 19th in Saudia Arabia and boasting a prize pool to rival TI of $15 million.

Last year PSG.LGD claimed Riyadh Masters championship title but the event had 'only' cool $4 million up for grabs.

Read PSG.LGD claim Riyadh Masters championship title

This year, Riyadh Masters has had much hype among the teams. Spots are almost as coveted as the legendary International invites. Touting the $15 million prize pool, it could potentially even dwarf this year's TI prize pool. The International 2022 prize pool was just over $18 million, and there is no battle pass this year.

Gaimin Gladiators easily secured their place with their back-to-back championship wins in DreamLeague Season 19 and then Season 20. BetBoom Team seized theirs with a second-place finish in DreamLeague Season 20.

Quest Esports landed their spot when they overwhelmed Team Secret ME, a middle east roster put together by Team Secret’s captain, Clement "Puppey" Ivanov 3:0 in the grand finals of the Riyadh Masters 2023 MENA Qualifier.

Read Quest Esports take down Nigma and Secret ME to secure a ticket to Riyadh Masters

Six other teams were able to secure a ticket via the DreamLeague Average Placement. The remaining was through the EPT ranking system.

EPT rankings for each region can be found on the official ESL Pro Tour website HERE.

Riyadh Masters 2023 Teams

Riyadh Masters 2023 format

Eight teams are seeded into the group stage
One team from DreamLeague Season 19
Two teams from DreamLeague Season 20
Top five average placed teams from DreamLeague Season 19 and 20
Twelve teams are seeded into play-in
Eleven teams based on the EPT Ranking System
Each of the six regions will have at least one team
One team from a MENA qualifier

Play-in stage, July 19-20

Two groups of six teams each
Single round-robin
All matches are Bo2
Top two teams from each group advance to the group stage
3rd to 6th place team from each group will be matched 3rd vs 6th, 4th vs 5th, matches are played from opposite groups
Winners will advance to group stage
Losers are eliminated

Group stage, July 21-24

Two groups of eight teams each
Single round-robin
All matches are Bo2
Top four teams from each group advance to the upper bracket of the playoffs
5th and 6th place teams from each group advance to the lower bracket of the playoffs
Remaining teams are eliminated

Playoffs July 26-30

Double-elimination bracket
All matches except Grand Final are Bo3
Grand Final is Bo5

Riyadh Masters 2023 prize pool distribution:

1st place: $5,000,000
2nd place: $2,500,000
3rd place: $1,700,000
4th place: $1,200,000
5th-6th place: $800,000
7th-8th place: $500,000
9th-12th place: $300,000
13th-14th place: $200,000
15th-16th place: $100,000
17th-18th place: $50,000
19th-20th place: $50,000

Teams heading to Riyadh Masters hoping for lion's share of $15 million prize pool