The grand finale of ESL One Kuala Lumpur showcased the return of the Chinese Dota 2 back on top after Azure Ray destroyed Gaimin Gladiators with a reverse sweep.
Azure Ray’s roster was heavily criticized by competitors in Dota 2 requesting for a DQ from ESL One Kuala Lumpur after three players were changed by the roster after TI 2023.
However, Valve’s absence from the competitive scene also saw the rulebooks change without AR receiving any penalties.
AR took the opportunity by going into the tournament, asserting its dominance early in the group stages by topping Group A, only dropping two matches in the process.
In the main event, AR met Gaimin in the upper bracket’s second leg, but they dropped into the lower bracket courtesy of a better Gaimin roster. Team Liquid was AR’s next opponent in the lower bracket. The EU Giants won the first match, pushing AR towards the exit from the competition.
However, the only Chinese representative remaining in the tournament defied the odds to win the last two matches in the series versus Liquid, thus securing a rematch in the grand finals against Gaimin.
When the grand finale came, AR began the series on the wrong side as Gaimin initially controlled the grand finals with two back-to-back wins.
AR knew they had no room for errors anymore as Gaimin was already looking like the champions-elect until AR pulled a reverse sweep to win three games in a row to secure the ESL One Kuala Lumpur title.
No team has managed to do the reverse sweep in the finals of Dota 2 since 2021; it is impressive the way AR has done it against the most dominant team of 2023. The result is a huge over-the-roof achievement for a roster who, irrespective, was expected to do well but not as far as the title.
Daniel Ademiju Idowu
