In a recent livestream, Shopify Rebellion’s carry player, Artour “Arteezy” Babaev, spoke about his consideration between participating in The International (TI) and Riyadh Masters. This raises a dilemma for pro players like Arteezy, especially considering the state of TI prize pool this year.

Arteezy expressed a view that the legacy of TI is often quickly forgotten, citing the example of Jonathan “Loda” Berg, a past TI winner whose fame has diminished over time.

Image source: Gamers8

Arteezy’s Perspective: Prioritizing Riyadh Over TI

Arteezy discussed his reasoning, emphasizing the financial aspect of the competitions. He pointed out that while TI has been historically significant, the Riyadh Masters appeared more lucrative and prestigious this year. He suggested that winning the Riyadh Masters would diminish the importance of TI for him.

“What to win TI for, money or title? Both! Who would say none or one? If it’s between one or the other. I don’t know. Ultimately, I think what separates TI is the money. Except Riyadh, for example, feels bigger this year. I feel this TI is really bad compared to Riyadh, actually. If I won Riyadh, I would not care about TI. Of course, you can be like Spirit and win both.

Lifetime achievement? I feel like legacy is not that important for most people. Because ultimately, what happens in 10 years from now? It’s not like people talk about Loda. Who talks about him? Even though he won TI3, and he is a legend of DotA. And nobody really talks about him anymore. Nothing against the guy at all, it’s just not really a thing.” – by Artour “Arteezy” Babaev

Arteezy also mentioned that although some teams, like Team Spirit, have won both events, the long-term legacy of esports champions is not as enduring as one might expect.

Valve’s Alleged Intervention in Riyadh Masters’ Prize Pool

Reports suggest that the Riyadh Masters 2023 was initially set to have an even larger prize pool than the already grand $15 million. However, it’s rumored that Valve intervened to prevent the Gamers8 event from surpassing the International 2023 (TI12) in prize pool size.

Nevertheless, the event, which took place in Saudi Arabia, saw Team Spirit defeat Team Liquid in the grand finals, earning $5 million, which was a third of the total prize pool. Additionally, the event was preceded by two seasons of DreamLeague, each with a substantial prize of one million dollars. Despite the lower prize, Team Spirit emerged victorious in both TI and Riyadh Masters, securing a total of $6.5 million in winnings, though this was still less than their $18 million earnings from TI10 back in 2021.

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Of course, the Riyadh Masters 2023 did still overshadowed TI12’s underwhelming prize pool. In contrast, TI12 experienced a reduction in its prize pool, totaling $3.4 million, a significant step down from the $19 million of TI11 and the record $40 million of TI10. This decrease was attributed to Valve’s decision to discontinue the Battle Pass sales this year, prioritizing gameplay updates over cosmetics. Valve justified their costly decision by the fact that the majority of Dota 2 players don’t buy Battle Pass despite the contradicting sales number.

Dota 2 teams now have even more to be excited about in 2024, as the Saudi Prime Minister announced the Esports World Cup 2024 with a gigantuous prize pool.