Top Six Malaysian Teams
Dota 2 has enjoyed significant recent popularity in Malaysia, with the scene there growing steadily.
As one of the most widespread eSports disciplines in SE Asia, The Malaysian government has recognized its importance to the younger generation, leading to the country becoming the first nation to host a national gaming event – the Malaysian Cyber Games – in 2015.
Since then, Malaysia has set up an official Dota 2 team, which is financially supported by the government and aims to boost the country’s global prestige. They bear the title of “Taring” (meaning “Fangs” in Malay).
There are a number of other teams in Malaysia, some of which are having a serious impact on the international Dota 2 scene. Here are our top six:
Fnatic
(2nd SEA, 4th World)
Although chiefly a European organisation, Fnatic have some of the best Malaysian players in the world in their ranks. This includes captain Mushi, who is widely considered to be the best Malaysian Dota 2 player.
The team dominates the home scene and are rightfully considered one of the best teams in the SEA region. They have shown consistent progression since Team Malaysia was picked up by the Fnatic organisation in June last year. A few roster changes have occurred since then and the team now includes Chai “Mushi” Yee Fung, Zheng “Miduan” Yeik Nai, Chong “Ohaiyo” Xin Khoo, Djardel Jicko “DJ” Mampusti and the newly promoted Adam Erwann Shah “343” bin Akhtar Hussein. DJ is the only non-Malaysian from this quintet.
Their impressive performances include 5-6th place in the Shanghai Major and 3rd-4th in ESL One Manila. The team also recorded a streak of 22 consecutive wins in February when star man Mushi was sidelined due to illness.
The team’s expectations for the recently concluded Epicenter in Moscow were high, but Fnatic fell just short of qualifying for the Main Event. One of the possible reasons for this was Net’s departure on 7 May.
WarriorsGaming.Unity
(5th SEA, 36th World)
A young team that includes Lai Jay “Ahjit” Son, Kam Boon “NaNa” Seng, Neng Ee “Wenn” Wooi, Tue Soon “Ahfu” Chuan and Tui Jun “Zacky” Jie, WarriorsGaming.Unity have only played 20 games so far. Nevertheless, they are fighting their way up the ladder and are set to become one of the best Malaysian Dota 2 teams.
The team predominantly competes in tournaments in the SEA region. In April, WarriorsGaming.Unity won the Agon Challenge, a Minor tournament featuring four teams and a prize pool of $500.
The players haven’t qualified for any international competition to date and were eliminated earlier this month in the first phase of The Summit 5 SEA Qualifiers. However, they did manage to land 5-8th spot in the BTS Southeast Asia #4, losing to Fnatic back in April, thus suggesting that potential is clearly there.
Orange Taring
(10th SEA, 53rd World)
Orange Taring is a new collaborative effort between the Malaysian government’s official Dota 2 team, Team Taring, and one of the largest Malaysian eSports organizations, Orange.eSports. The team roster includes captain Ng “YamateH” Wei Poong, Chua “Ice” Chee Cai, Sim “Ling” Woi Cheong, Law “NJ” Chee Hoong, Byron Young “Syeonix” Meng Keen and substitute Roger Tan “Roddgeee” Boon Thye. This means there are three players from the old Team Taring plus two newbies in their main five.
Taring were only formed in December 2015, but are already a strong prospect as they contain players of the calibre of Dota 2 veteran YamateH, who has played in a number of international Premier and Major tournaments. His experience serves as a solid base upon which the rest of the team can build and he performs a similar role to that of Mushi at Fnatic, which made him instrumental in the team’s uprising. However, Fnatic currently is the top destination for the most talented Malaysian players and in terms of individual skill, Orange Taring have to improve significantly to reach the level of their more successful compatriots.
The team’s main ambitions include reaching the top three in the SEA region and gaining a presence on the international Dota 2 scene. However, they have struggled in these aims so far, finishing 3rd in the Manila Major SEA Qualifiers and 4th in the Shanghai Major SEA Qualifiers. Their performances in domestic tournaments have been more solid, however, as they did manage to finish in 3rd-4th spot in the BTS Southeast Asia #4.
Panglima 5
(15th SEA, 73rd World)
Panglima 5’s roster consists of Muhammad “sacri00” Isyraf Lee (captain), Luqman “Kaizer96” Hakimi, Mohd Helmy “VexuS” Bin Ibrahim, Eugene Ong “Mrbun” Gee Haw and Amiral “ZeroAttitude” Arif.
The team haven’t had any significant achievements so far, but they were very close to advancing to the Shanghai Major Main SEA Qualifier, having been eliminated in the semi-finals of the Open Qualifier. Meanwhile, in the recent BTS SEA #4 they were again eliminated during the Open Qualifiers.
Power Gaming
(27th SEA, 94th World)
Power Gaming recently signed one of the most talented young Mid players – Kok Yi “ddz” Liong. The young player grew in prominence in 2014 when his team Lowyat Esports was picked up by Arrow Gaming. There he had the chance to face some of the best SEA teams and gain experience at a higher level. His high individual skill with hard to master heroes such as Invoker made him quite popular with the fans but his career has somewhat stalled (one of the reasons being his involvement in a match fixing scandal). Despite this, his skill levels haven’t diminished, making him a valuable acquisition to the team.
He joined Power Gaming in early April alongside Support player Kelvin Chong “MtR” Wah Sing. The team’s roster is quite fresh and apart from these two includes Muhammad “Firebird” Shehwar, Clement “CLe-” Teoh and Patric “JyC” Pascua (captain).
The team participates mainly in the SEA scene and haven’t qualified for any Premier tournaments so far. They were recently eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Open Phase of The Summit 5 SEA Qualifiers, losing 0-2 to Corgi in a Team.
Mineski-X
(33rd SEA, 132nd World)
Perhaps one of the teams whose ranking isn’t indicative of their skill level, Mineski-X are a young outfit already making an impact in the SEA scene, despite only being formed in January. The team was created just before the Shanghai Major with the idea of qualifying for the tournament through the SEA qualifiers.
Mineski-X are under the Mineski umbrella, who are from The Philippines, but their roster comprises entirely of Malaysian players. Alongside the veteran and highly regarded Support Lee Siong “JoHnNy” Tait, the team’s line-up features Ng Aik “Nicxh” Huang Nickhlos, Chua “KaNG” Soon Khong, Joel Chan “XtiNcT” Zhan Leong and Yap “XNova-” Jian Wei.
The team didn’t manage to qualify for Shanghai nor for the forthcoming Manila Major. Despite this, Mineski-X finished first in the BTS #5 SEA Qualifier and will participate in this tournament, trying to build upon their 9-16th finish in the 4th edition of the BTS.
What do you think, have we captured the best teams in Malaysia in this article? Let us know in the comments section below.
