ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023: Culmination of Dota 2's Competitive Year with Exciting Format and $1 Million Prize Pool

This competition, occurring from December 11 to 17, marks the final major Dota 2 tournament of the year. It stands as a platform to highlight the newly assembled teams following the post-The International 2023 roster changes. The tournament will feature a total of 12 teams, consisting of three directly invited teams and eight teams determined through regional qualifiers in Western Europe, Eastern Europe, China, Southeast Asia, MENA, North America, and South America.

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Initially, the directly invited teams were the Top 4 finishers at TI 2023: Team Spirit, Gaimin Gladiators, LGD Gaming, and Azure Ray. Unfortunately, Team Spirit had to withdraw from the event due to health concerns. Consequently, the vacant slot intended for Team Spirit was reassigned as an extra qualifier spot for Western Europe.

ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023 consists of two main stages: the Group Stage taking place from December 11 to 13 and the Playoffs scheduled from December 15 to 17. In the Group Stage, the 12 participating teams are divided into two groups, each with six teams. The teams will engage in a single round-robin format featuring best-of-two matches to determine their placement in the Playoffs.

The two most successful teams from each group will be eliminated, while the top four teams from each group will move on to the playoffs. In the Playoffs, the top two teams from each group advance to the upper bracket, while the bottom two teams begin in the lower bracket.

After a day off, the Playoffs will start with the eight remaining teams in a double-elimination tournament. With the exception of the Grand Finals, which are a complete best-of-five series, all Playoff games will be best-of-three affairs. The Playoffs will be webcast live in front of an audience at the Malaysia International Trade & Exhibition Centre; however, the Group Stage will only be available online.

ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023 offers a $1 million prize pool, with the champion receiving $300,000 and 4,800 ESL Pro Tour (EPT) points. The breakdown also includes rewards for various placements, contributing to EPT points for future ESL tournaments in 2024.

G2 joins forces with Invictus and enters the Dota 2 scene

G2 Esports has been present in the esports world for almost ten years. Starting as Gamers2, the organization founded by Carlos "ocelote" Rodríguez expanded its activities with subsequent divisions, currently having, among others: teams in Counter-Strike, Rocket League, Rainbow Six: Siege, VALORANT and, of course, League of Legends. During all this time, she has never appeared on the stage of Dota 2, LoL's main competitor in the MOBA field. Till this day.

Samurai together with Invictus

However, it will not be alone—instead, it will join forces with an organization already very experienced in Valve's game. We are talking about Invictus Gaming, a club from China on the Dota scene that has been operating since 2011. iG probably needs no introduction to League of Legends fans, because the players of this organization won the Summoner's Cup in 2018 - incidentally, in the semi-finals, defeating... Samurai. In Dota 2, both organizations will work side by side, and G2.iG, as the team created based on this cooperation will be called, will include all players who have previously represented Invictus.

"It's the best time to be a G2 fan"

“China has consistently been a priority market for us and we are thrilled to finally bring a local team to our millions of Chinese fans,” said Alban Dechelotte, CEO of G2 Esports. – We are entering Dota 2 for the first time, which is a significant moment for us. We have been thinking about both China and Dota for a long time, but until now we couldn't find a suitable method that would work long-term. We know that working with Invictus, which has both the Worlds championship and the Aegis will enable us to create the best team and we can bring G2 methods to a new region and to a new esports discipline. “It really is the best time to be a G2 fan,” he added.

We will have our first opportunity to see G2.iG in action at ESL One Kuala Lumpur, which starts on December 11. The Samurai were placed in group B, which also included Team Liquid, the team of Michał "Nisha" Jankowski. However, we will have to wait until Tuesday for the duel between G2.iG and TL - on the first day, the rivals of the newly created team will be Team Undying and LGD Gaming. The full ESL One Kuala Lumpur schedule and more information about the event can be found on its official website.