After five weeks of incredible action, [b]King of the Desert 3[/b] is entering its final weekend! The $50,000 USD Arabia-only tournament has provided some of the highest-level competition [i]Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition[/i] has to offer. Stacked with the best 64 players in the world playing on the most popular map, it’s already produced many memorable moments! [previewyoutube=IDPgCaXClt4;full][/previewyoutube] [code][h3]⚔ PLEASE NOTE ⚔[/h3] [h3]This blog contains spoilers for King of the Desert 3.[/h3][/code] [h1]Setting the Stage[/h1] A fair share of surprises contributed to much of the suspense during the event thus far! Early on, several high seeded, well-known players did not make the group stage: including [i]LaaaaN[/i], [i]ACCM[/i], and [i]Capoch[/i]. Then, the top four seeded players ended on the same side of the quarterfinal bracket after [i]Mr_Yo[/i] and [i]Liereyy[/i] failed to win their groups—forcing matchups against [i]TheViper [/i]and [i]Hera [/i]in the quarterfinals. This lead to an early exit for [i]Hera [/i](2-3) against [i]Liereyy[/i] and the reigning, two-time KotD champion, [i]TheViper[/i], being eliminated (0-3) by [i]Mr_Yo[/i]. KotD3 has also seen some impressive breakthrough performances! Japanese player, [i]chart[/i]—who seeded 46 at the start of the tournament—managed to defeat several seasoned pros to reach the group stage, where he finished in the top 12. [i]Villese[/i] also reached his first semifinal in a major event, and now has a shot at the crown after securing several top 8 and top 16 performances in recent years. While many burning questions about KotD3 have already been answered, the most important has been left for the games ahead: [i]Villese[/i], [i]MbL4OC[/i], [i]Mr_Yo[/i], and [i]Liereyy[/i] are prepared to battle with all their might in the semifinals, and for the chance to be the one "[b]King of the Desert[/b]"! [h1]The Finalists[/h1] [i]Villese[/i] has had a solid performance since the start of KotD3. In the group stage, he won 3-0 against both [i]Tatoh [/i]and [i]Vivi[/i], who were considered favorites in their matches. His only defeat came at the hands of [i]Hera [/i](1-3). In the quarterfinal, he bested veteran legend, [i]_Daut_[/i], to solidify his best tournament run to this date! During the semifinal, [i]Villese[/i] will face off against [i]MbL40C[/i]—widely considered one of the best Arabia experts in the world. [i]MbL40C[/i] had no difficulty reaching the group stage, where he defeated [i]Mr_Yo[/i] in a first-place decider in Group D. While facing off in the quarterfinal, [i]MbL40C[/i] won a solid 3-0 against [i]dogao[/i], becoming the only undefeated player at this stage of the tournament! [i]Liereyy[/i]—a two-time runner up in KotD and recent Red Bull Wololo 2 champion—entered KotD3 as one of the fan favorites to win the tournament. His path to the semifinals was not without obstacles, as he lost to [i]_Daut_ [/i](2-3) for first place in Group C. This meant he had to face [i]Nicov[/i] and [i]Hera[/i] to make it to the final four, which he ultimately delivered! Emerging victorious, [i]Liereyy [/i]swept [i]Nicov [/i]3-0, then battled ferociously versus [i]Hera [/i]in a five-game showdown for the 3-2 win. Similar to [i]Liereyy[/i], [i]Mr_Yo[/i] lost a first-place decider match against [i]MbL40C[/i] in Group D. This meant he had to defeat [i]chart[/i] and the reigning champion, [i]TheViper[/i], to reach the semifinals. He, too, was up for the brutal task set before him: winning both matches in a 3-0 landslide! His victory against [i]TheViper[/i] has already brought about a new era for the KotD series: establishing that this year, for sure, will have a newly crowned champion! [img]https://static.ageofempires.com/aoe/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/quarters.png[/img] [h1]Watch Live![/h1] You can watch the final weekend of KotD3 on the official stream of the tournament: [url=https://www.twitch.tv/membtv]MembTV[/url] [code][h3][b]⚔ Saturday, October 24[/b][/h3]Games start at 13:00 UTC (6AM PT / 9AM ET). All times in UTC. [list][*] [b]Semifinals:[/b][/list] [h3][b]⚔ Sunday, October 25[/b][/h3]Games start at 15:00 UTC (8AM PT / 11AM ET). All times in UTC. [list][*] [b]Grand Final[/b][/list][/code]