The stakes are escalating rapidly at Riyadh Masters 2025, a premier Dota 2 tournament. The elimination stage is set to begin, and one of the initial critical matchups features **Virtus.pro** battling **Team Falcons**. This best-of-3 series, scheduled for July 12th at 19:00 Moscow time, is a fight for survival, as the loser will be eliminated from the prestigious competition.
Notably, this upcoming clash will be the first official encounter between **Virtus.pro** and **Team Falcons** in 2025. This lack of recent head-to-head history adds an element of unpredictability, forcing both teams to adapt based on recent tournament form rather than established rivalry dynamics from previous years.
Examining their respective journeys through the group stage reveals a clear divergence in performance. **Team Falcons** demonstrated reasonable consistency, concluding their group matches with a record of one loss and two draws. This performance was sufficient to advance them to the next phase of the tournament.
In contrast, **Virtus.pro** experienced significant difficulties in their group stage campaign. The team struggled to find their footing, unfortunately losing all three of their matches consecutively. This challenging run places them in a demanding position entering the high-pressure elimination bracket, where there is no room for further setbacks.
Given these contrasting results and recent form, it comes as little surprise that expert analysts widely identify **Team Falcons** as the strong favorite heading into this elimination match. Their more stable group stage performance suggests better current form and cohesion compared to **Virtus.pro**`s recent struggles.
This critical match is part of the larger **Riyadh Masters 2025** event, which is taking place offline in Saudi Arabia from July 8th to 19th as a component of the Esports World Cup 2025. The tournament features 16 top-tier teams competing for a substantial prize pool of $3 million. For both **Virtus.pro** and **Team Falcons**, this best-of-3 series represents a pivotal moment – a chance for one team to continue their pursuit of the championship and for the other to see their tournament run end.
Finley Holt