Team Spirit will likely remain the highest earning Dota 2 team in 2023. Given they are qualified for The International, the new format, and takings from the Riyadh Masters, Spirit will likely be the “richest” team at the end of the season.

The EEU team raked in $5M for placing first in Riyadh, and messily ~$100,000 from the season, but still get to be on top.

Image source: Gamers8 Esports

Team Spirit can only extend the earnings lead

For the uninitiated, Gaimin Gladiators won all three Majors in DPC 2023, so they would have kept the title as the highest-earning team in 2023 if they also won Riyadh Masters. However, winning all three Majors merely rakes $600K in total, and a fourth-place finish in Riyadh Masters netted $1.2M. This is still a fraction of Team Spirit’s $5M reward, which is baffling.

Additionally, both Team Liquid and Talon Esports received a generous reward of $2.5M and $1.7M, respectively, grander than Gaimin. Particularly, fans were pleasantly surprised with Talon’s performance, giving the Southeast Asian fans a glimpse of hope for winning TI12.

Hence, it’s certainly an understatement to say that the Riyadh Masters 2023 is second only to the International Championship and even surpassed previous years’ Internationals in terms of prize pool.

Winnings aside, Teams Spirit is a team that has gone under the radar for most of DPC 2023 despite their title as TI10 Champions. Sure, Team Spirit did secure a direct invite to the upcoming TI12 and has participated in every Major themselves. However, they have been underwhelming in every major of 2023, with their best record being a mere eighth place at Lima Major 2023. With all these considered, Team Spirit was never a team many anticipated to be in the Riyadh Masters Grand Finals, let alone become champions.

Going into Ti12, Spirit will likely make it out of groups and earn yet another cash injection. Given how the The International Prize Pool has been shrinking over the past two years, unless GG wins Ti 12, Team Spirit will be the highest earners of the season.

It’s honestly great to see the TI10 Champions in their element once again, especially near the end of the season and right in time to get the big payout.

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