Gone is Dota 2’s Pro Circuit, and in its place a calendar and scene run once more by third-party operators, beginning with ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023.
Top-tier competitive Dota returns to Southeast Asia in a big way this December, with the first ESL Pro Tour event seeing 12 teams compete for one million dollars and bragging rights as the last tier-one event winner of 2023. Who will emerge as the champions of Kuala Lumpur?
Here is the full schedule, format, results, and more for ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023.
ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023: All Dota 2 schedules, scores, and standings
ESL One Kuala Lumpur is the first tournament in the 2024 ESL Pro Tour (EPT), with both a cash prize and EPT points on offer for Dota 2 teams (based on placement). These EPT points count toward the official ESL rankings, with teams receiving further invites to other ESL-hosted tournaments based on their point total.
Here are the final standings for ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023 including prize pool distribution and the EPT points up for grabs.
Placement | EPT Points | Prize (USD) | Team |
First | 4,800 | $300,000 | Azure Ray |
Second | 3,600 | $175,000 | Gaimin Gladiators |
Third | 3,000 | $120,000 | Team Liquid |
Fourth | 2,400 | $85,000 | BetBoom Team |
Fifth | 1,680 | $57,500 | G2.iG, Team Falcons |
Seventh | 780 | $47,500 | Tundra Esports, Team Secret |
Ninth | 420 | $30,000 | LGD Gaming, Blacklist International |
11th | 210 | $25,000 | 9Pandas, Wawitas Sagazes |
ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023 teams and format
Twelve teams will compete at ESL One Kuala Lumpur, kicking the event off with the group stage. Two groups of six will play out a best-of-two round-robin stage, with the top two teams from each group progressing straight to the upper bracket of the playoffs. The next two teams in each group will begin the playoffs in the lower bracket, while the final two will be eliminated.
From there, the teams move to the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre for the finals with a full double-elimination best-of-three bracket deciding who finishes 2023 on top.
Group A | Group B |
Azure Ray | 9Pandas |
BetBoom Team | G2 Invictus Gaming |
Blacklist International | LGD Gaming |
Gaimin Gladiators | Team Falcons |
Team Secret | Team Liquid |
Wawitas Sagazes | Tundra Esports |
ESL One Kuala Lumpur full schedule: Group Stage
Sunday, Dec. 10
- 10pm CT
- BetBoom 1-1 Gaimin
- Azure Ray 2-0 Secret
- Blacklist 2-0 Wawitas
Monday, Dec. 11
- 12:30am CT
- Gaimin 1-1 Secret
- Azure Ray 1-1 Blacklist
- BetBoom 1-1 Wawitas
- 3:15am CT
- LGD 0-2 Falcons
- 9Pandas 0-2 Liquid
- G2.IG 0-2 Tundra
- 5:45am CT
- G2.IG 2-0 LGD
- Falcons 2-0 Liquid
- 9Pandas 0-2 Tundra
- 10pm CT
- Blacklist 0-2 Gaimin
- Azure Ray 2-0 Wawitas
- BetBoom 1-1 Secret
Tuesday, Dec. 12
- 12:30am CT
- Blacklist 0-2 Secret
- Azure Ray 1-1 BetBoom
- Gaimin 2-0 Wawitas
- 3:15am CT
- G2.IG 2-0 Liquid
- LGD 1-1 Tundra
- 9Pandas 1-1 Falcons
- 5:45am CT
- G2.IG 2-0 Falcons
- 9Pandas 0-2 LGD
- Liquid 2-0 Tundra
- 10pm CT
- Azure Ray 2-0. Gaimin
- BetBoom 1-1 Blacklist
- Secret 2-0 Wawitas
- Tiebreaker: Quinn (Gaimin) 1-0 MidOne (Secret)
Wednesday, Dec. 13
- 12:45am CT
- LGD 1-1 Liquid
- 9Pandas 0-2 G2.IG
- Falcons 2-0 Tundra
ESL One Kuala Lumpur full schedule: Playoffs
Wednesday, Dec. 13
- 3:30am CT: Azure Ray 2-1 Falcons
- Upper bracket semifinal. Azure Ray progresses to upper bracket final, Falcons drops to lower bracket.
- 3:30am CT: G2.iG 1-2 Gaimin
- Upper bracket semifinal. Gaimin progresses to upper bracket final, G2.iG drops to lower bracket.
Friday, Dec. 15
- 12am CT: Secret 0-2 Liquid
- Lower bracket round one. Liquid progresses to lower bracket quarterfinals, Secret is eliminated.
- 3:35am CT: BetBoom 2-0 Tundra
- Lower bracket round one. BetBoom progresses to lower bracket quarterfinals, Tundra is eliminated.
- 6:05am CT: Falcons 1-2 Liquid
- Lower bracket quarterfinal. Falcons progresses to lower bracket semifinal, Liquid is eliminated.
Saturday, Dec. 16
- 12am CT: BetBoom 2-0 G2.iG
- Lower bracket quarterfinal. BetBoom progresses to lower bracket semifinal, G2.iG is eliminated.
- 3:35am CT: Azure Ray 0-2 Gaimin
- Upper bracket final. Winner progresses to grand final, loser falls to lower bracket semifinal.
- 6:05am CT: Liquid 2-0 BetBoom
- Lower bracket semifinal. Winner progresses to lower bracket final, loser is eliminated.
Sunday, Dec. 17
- 12am CT: Azure Ray 2-1 Liquid
- Lower bracket final. Winner progresses to grand final, loser is eliminated.
- 4am CT: Gaimin 2-3 Azure Ray
- Grand final.