Riyadh Masters 2023 Dota 2 betting picks – Wednesday, July 19

Riyadh Masters 2023 kicks off on July 19, featuring 20 Dota 2 esports teams and a massive $15 million prize pool. Here you can find our top betting picks for three group stage matches on Wednesday – Execration vs TSM, Team Liquid vs Entity, and 9Pandas vs OG.

Execration and TSM have met four times this year, most recently in April, during Berlin Major 2023, when they parted ways with a 1-1 draw. Three of the four meetings ended in a tie – the only exception was TSM’s victory at DreamLeague Season 19, two weeks before the Berlin Major.

Based purely on their head-to-head record, TSM and Execration look evenly matched, but according to the top Dota 2 betting sites, this is TSM’s game to lose. This doesn’t make much sense, considering TSM haven’t played a single official match since June.

On the other hand, Execration are not in the best form. They attended the Bali Major earlier this month and crashed out in 15-16th place without a single victory (0-5-3), which looks concerning. But even though Execration crumbled in Bali, they should do fine against the rusty TSM.

Team Liquid are priced at +650 to win Riyadh Masters 2023, behind only Tundra Esports (+300) and Gaimin Gladiators (+200). While Liquid look a great bet to reach the final (+275), there is a good chance Entity will make them work for the win in this clash.

Opening matches of Majors tend to be much closer, and that trend is especially noticeable this season. At the Dota 2 Bali Major, half of the first-round games ended in a draw; in Berlin, 43.75% (7/16). That wouldn’t be a good enough reason to bet against Liquid, but Aydin “iNSaNiA” Sarkohi and his crew are known to play down to their opponent’s level, which makes Entity with a +1.5 map advantage a solid choice.

9Pandas placed fifth-sixth at Bali Major 2023 at the start of July and will now look to build on that success in Ryidah as one of the live outsiders to make a deep run. In Bali, the Russians didn’t disappoint with their performances, and while their run through the group stage (3-2-2) wasn’t too impressive, 9Pandas left a strong statement with their games against Team Aster (2-1), beastcoast (2-1), and Team Liquid (1-2).

OG didn’t attend the Bali Major and were last seen competing in June at DreamLeague Season 20, where Tommy “Taiga” Le and co. placed 13th-16th. Still, this is a good team, and with Sébastien “Ceb” Debs back on the roster, OG are capable of competing for at least a top-eight finish.

9Pandas look much better on paper than OG, but 9Pandas are also known to stumble in best-of-two series, which could make this game a bit closer than expected. A draw seems like the most likely outcome, but we’re getting far more value backing OG to win in the three-way market.


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