Azure Ray Are The ESL One Kuala Lumpur Champions

The Dota 2 season for 2023 has officially concluded as ESL One Kuala Lumpur has reached its climax. The grand final was a throwback to earlier iterations of The Internationals, as a team from Western Europe, Gaimin Gladiators, and a team from China, Azure Ray, clashed for the trophy.

The grand final series was also a rematch of the upper bracket finals, where Gaimin knocked down Azure Ray to advance to the grand finals. However, Azure Ray eliminated Team Liquid in the lower bracket to earn a chance to avenge their defeat.

The Journey To The Grand Finals

Coming into the series, Gaimin Gladiators were the favorites to lift the ESL One Kuala Lumpur trophy. Throughout the season, GG was dominant in every LAN they attended.

They clean sweep all the DPC Majors. The only tournaments they struggled with were The Riyadh Masters 2023 and The International 2023.

Gaimin Gladiators at ESL One Kuala Lumpur.
Credits: ESL One

After a runner-up finish at The International 2023, the team quickly bounced back in ESL One Kuala Lumpur. They secured second place in Group A in the group stage. In their debut upper-bracket series, the team took a reverse sweep against G2 IG before advancing to take a clean series against Azure Ray in the upper-bracket final series.

On the other hand, Azure Ray came into the tournament with a lot of backlash. The team had gone through a roster shuffle for the tournament as three of their core players retired. Thus, some personalities from the scene called for a revoke of their direct invitation.

Azure Ray at ESL One Kuala Lumpur.
Credits: ESL One

Nevertheless, the team braced through the backlash and came into the tournament with some fresh faces. The team topped Group A with three wins and two ties.

The grand final series kept fans on the edge of their seats as it went down to the wire. In the end, Azure emerged victorious, marking a triumphant comeback for the Chinese region in the 2023 Season.

Game 1

Broodmother is one of the most annoying heroes in Dota 2.
Credits: Valve

Picking a cheesy Broodmother as their offlane, Gaimin played a fast-tempo match. Moreover, the Brood pick took some pressure off their safelane Alchemist.

With their midlane Pangolier, GG was always out for a pickoff across the map since the end of the laning stage. The pressure enabled their safelaner to get a Radiance early, which pushes his other item timing forward. With everything going their way, Gaimin took the match at 28 minutes.

Game 2

Slark is one of the most mobile heroes in Dota 2. Additionally, he is the most hated fish in the game.
Credits: Valve

In game 2, Gaimin had the same idea, but they executed it differently. Picking Slark as their safelaner, the team started to build their tempo since the laning stage. Moreover, with Pangolier as their midlaner and Primal Beast as their offlaner, Gaimin's plans to snowball the game were successful. They snowball their laning stage advantage into the midgame, allowing Slark to build up his Essence stacks.

Despite Zhao "XinQ" Zixing’s marvelous performance on his Windranger, Azure had no way to hold off the pressure coming from Gaimin. At 27 minutes, Azure tapped out from game 2.

Game 3 

Storm Spirit can easily jump backlines in team fights, and he is the favorite hero for AM players to use Ulti on.
Credits: Valve

With their backs against the wall, Azure Ray came into their potential last game with a different strategy. They decided to back up their midlane Storm Spirit by bringing a couple of rotations in the laning stage.

With offlane Centaur Warrunner acting as a frontline for AR, GG’s attempt to snowball the game found no success.

Moreover, the team had no answers to deal with a fully farmed Storm Spirit and Faceless Void. At 29 minutes, Gaimin tapped out from game 3, giving Azure breathing room for the series.

Game 4

Azure came with a similar draft in game 4. However, Gaimin Gladiators went for an aggressive draft.

Azure Ray player after winning a crucial team fight.
Credits: ESL One

Gaimin won the laning stage and started to build their momentum in the late game. However, a few slip-ups from GG’s cores allowed Azure’s safelane Luna to catch up to them. Additionally, their midlane Puck was already a nuisance for GG to deal with. With Luna taking the lead in the net worth, Gladiators started to fall behind, allowing AR to close the decider game at 39 minutes.

Game 5

Naga Siren's ultimate made enemies go to sleep.
Credits: Valve

The deciding game was a one-sided stomp from Azure Ray. They carefully dissected Gaimin’s draft. Moreover, they easily dismantled Gaimin’s game plan with their thorough draft. Their safelane, Naga Siren, was safely soaking up the farm on the map while their midlane Outworld Devour responded to the aggression from Gaimin. At 22 minutes, Gaimin Gladiators had a chance for a potential comeback, but they quickly lost it due to a huge misplay. The misplay led to a panic high-ground defence for Gaimin. Unfortunately, at 37 minutes, Gaimin tapped out from the series, giving the trophy to Azure Ray.

The Rewards

Azure Ray received 4800 EPT points and half a million dollars in prize money as they emerged as ESL One Kuala Lumpur champions. The Gaimin Gladiators, on the other hand, finished as the runner-up for the second time in a major tournament.

Featured Image Source: Twitter. @wykrm

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