Scheduled for December 11-17, twelve world-class teams will be flying to Malaysia to compete in one of the best Dota 2 tournaments. ESL One returns to Kuala Lumpur, this time with a grander $1M prize pool.
Considering Valve’s decision to end Dota Pro Circuit, it’s open season for third-party organizers to host their own major-grade tournaments themselves.
Image source: ESL One
The ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023 takes place at a different venue this year. Last year, the ESL One Malaysia was at Genting Highlands, known for its outdoor theme parks and resort, but inconvenient accessibility.
This time, however, the ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023 is at MITEC, which is frankly a more accessible venue than the former. If you’re looking to attend ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023 physically, you might want to hurry because ticket sales start on September 21, 3 PM Singapore/Malaysia time zone (GMT+8).
At a reasonable 149 MYR ($31) for the regular 3-day ticket, it’s a bargain to watch and meet the best teams live. There are also the plus 3-day ticket for 299 MYR ($63) or the premium 3-day ticket for 499 MYR ($106) if you feel like splurging. The plus tickets come with Plus Goodie Bag, which comes with event t-shirt, event coin and more perks to be confirmed, while the premium tickets get a Premium version of Goodie Bag. Additionally, you get seats closer to the main stage, where the pro players will be playing, giving you a better look of the players.
The seating format at MITEC, Malaysia for ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023
Of course, arguably the most valuable perk that comes with the premium tickets is the priority access to signing sessions with the pro players! The other two tiers still get general access to signing sessions.
MITEC, or the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre, is dubbed the largest exhibition centre in Kuala Lumpur. We can’t comment much on how fancy the seatings will be, but note that MITEC is not a stadium, so the seats are not stadium-grade.
Nevertheless, perhaps the best part about the ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023 being at MITEC is its strategic location. There are various public transports, ranging from the bus to train (LRT & MRT stations), which are a stone’s throw away from MITEC. Else, one could always catch e-hailing service, notably using the Grab e-hailing app.
For the passionate Dota 2 fans who just want to watch some good Dota, the official ESL One Dota 2 Twitch channel is where you find quality broadcasts alongside a cult-following of meme-driven chat.
If there’s a tournament organizer that knows how to run million-dollar tournaments professionally, it’s ESL One, so expect standard group stage and playoffs. Group stage spans from December 11-13, consisting of two single round-robin groups of six teams each, where matches are best-of-two.
Top two teams from each group advance to upper bracket of Playoffs, while the third and fourth-place teams proceed to the lower bracket. The bottom two seeds are out of the tournament.
The Playoffs take place on the December 15-17 after a break day, and it’s where teams will play live on stage for fans to witness. Playoffs comprised of double-elimination bracket, where matches are best-of-three, except the best-of-five grand finals.
ESL is yet to announce the invite list, but expect the best teams from the International 12 (TI12) to be there.
Chances are, the newly-crowned TI12 Champions, by that time, would also be at ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023! And, we can also expect team OG to be among the twelve teams, since they were the ESL One Malaysia 2022 Champions.
With $1M on the line, ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023 is on every team’s radar to win. Additionally, with DPC out of the picture, ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023 might be the first important tournament of the new season, which holds some form of ‘weightage’ for teams to earn, in hopes of getting invited to TI Championship next year.
Read next: Dota 2 The International 2023: Event Guide, Teams & History
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