ESL One Kuala Lumpur results and impressions

ESL One Kuala Lumpur was an amazing Dota 2 tournament, filled with surprises and plot twists. Rarely do we get to watch such a fantastic competition, in which so many teams with recently changed rosters are trying to prove themselves.

The event featured a total of 12 competitors and started with numerous group stage that redefined the meta.

Group A results

In group A of ESL One Kuala Lumpur, Azure Ray won three matches and drew twice. Given that the match format was best-of-two and that their roster had suffered radical changes prior to the tournament, these results were very impressive.

Several years ago, when China started to give harsh laws against video games, everyone assumed that the region’s esports future was compromised. But we’re starting to see that even without their most legendary players, Chinese teams continue to impress.

The second-best team in this group was Gaimin Gladiators, who won twice, drew twice, and lost once. The loss came against Azure Ray, and this would come back to haunt them in the Grand Final.

The most interesting record in this group was obtained by BetBoom Team, who drew five times. This result suggested that they were strong and had a lot to offer.

Blacklist International and Wawitas Sagazes were eliminated.

Group B results

In group B, absolutely everyone lost at least one match. G2.iG won four matches and lost one, winning the race. Their defeat came against Tundra Esports. Team Falcons finished second with a record of 3 W – 1 D – 1 L. Initially, they looked very strong, but as the days went by, other teams started to figure them out.

By the time the tournament reached the playoffs, Falcons had nothing left to give and ended up losing twice in a row immediately.

The teams that were eliminated in this group were LGD Gaming and 9Pandas.

Congrats to Azure Ray.

Think I fucked some stuff up in the finals. But mainly props to them for coming back.

Very sad way to lose, will be sad for a while unfortunately since we strife for victory.

I do miss the winter so will enjoy going back there. Time to cool down. https://t.co/mwAcDt9aOQ

— Melchior Hillenkamp (@Seleri4096) December 17, 2023

Playoffs results

In the playoffs, Team Secret and Tundra Esports left the race early after close defeats against Team Liquid and BetBoom. Next, Falcons and G2.iG were eliminated. Meanwhile, in the upper bracket, Azure Ray and Gaimin Gladiators won their opening matches and then fought each other. Gaimin Gladiators won 2 – 0 and relatively easily.

But then, after winning the lower bracket Final against Liquid, Azure Ray came back and stole their trophy. All of the games in the Grand Final were relatively one-sided. The first two were won by Gladiators, but in the next three, Azure Ray proved to be stronger.

Header: ESL