Azure Ray pull off incredible 3-2 reverse sweep over Gaimin Gladiators to win ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023

Chinese Dota 2 powerhouse Azure Ray are ending the year with a bang after they claimed the championship at ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023 to go with a US$300,000 grand prize with an incredible 3-2 reverse sweep over The International (TI) 2023 runners-up Gaimin Gladiators on Sunday (17 December).

This is Azure Ray's first-ever tournament victory as an organisation, having only been formed back in May.

Azure Ray has also become the second team to win a Grand Finals over Gaimin Gladiators this year, who have been 2023's most dominant team in Dota 2 with six tournament victories including three-straight Major championships at Lima, Berlin, and Bali.

Not only that, Azure Ray also avenged previous humiliating losses to Gaimin Gladiators in the lower bracket semifinals of TI 2023 and in the upper bracket finals at Kuala Lumpur.

Both Azure Ray and Gaimin Gladiators began their Kuala Lumpur campaigns in Group A. Azure Ray topped the standings with a 8-2 record which included a 2-0 victory over Gaimin Gladiators, who finished as the second seed with a 6-4 record.

Azure Ray and Gaimin Gladiators then defeated Team Falcons and G2.iG, respectively, to meet in the upper bracket finals. There, the TI 2023 runners-up soundly swept their Chinese opponents to become the first team in the Grand Finals.

Azure Ray then defeated Team Liquid, 2-1, in the lower bracket finals to earn a rematch with Gaimin Gladiators for the Kuala Lumpur championship.

Gaimin Gladiators came out swinging to start the Grand Finals by absolutely stomping Azure Ray to the tune of a 24-5 kill lead in 28 minutes. They notably flexed their muscles by running signature picks like Alchemist for Anton "dyrachyo" Shkredov and Pangolier for Quinn "Quinn" Callahan to go with rising meta heroes from the recently-released 7.35 update like Broodmother for Marcus "Ace" Hoelgaard.

Ace and Erik "tOfu" Engel on Silencer paced Gaimin Gladiators' game one kill lead by notching seven kills on one death apiece to go with a combined 17 assists. Dyrachyo also had six kills and 10 assists on one death while Quinn added a clean two kills and a game-high 16 assists.

Azure Ray tried to switch things up in game two with the unorthodox picks they have become known to pull out following 7.35's release. This time, they went with a carry Abaddon for Lou "Lou" Zhen, a mid Slardar for Guo "Xm" Hongcheng, and a support Windranger for Zhao "XinQ" Zixing.

Unfortunately, even that could do little to prevent Gaimin Gladiators from stomping Azure Ray in game two in 27 minutes behind a tri-core of Slark for dyrachyo, Pangolier for Quinn again, and Primal Beast for Ace.

Despite an early kill on dyrachyo, Gaimin Gladiators handily won all the lanes and snowballed to the win from there to finish with a 38-12 kill lead. Dyrachyo led the way with 13 kills and 10 assists on three deaths, Quinn had 10 kills and 18 assists on two deaths, while Ace put up nine kills and 19 assists on just one death.

Azure Ray were determined not to go down without a fight and struck back hard in game three. The Chinese team gave Gaimin Gladiators a taste of their own medicine by dominating them to the tune of a 28-4 kill lead in 29 minutes.

Xm had a perfect 11-kill, 13-assist performance to give Azure Ray their only win of the Grand Finals. Lou also notched six kills and eight assists on two deaths while Lin "Xxs" Jing on Centaur Warrunner put up five kills and 20 assists on one death.

Game four saw Azure Ray roar back into the series with an incredible 39-minute comeback behind stellar performances from their trio of x-factors in Xm, Xxs, and XinQ.

Gaimin Gladiators were dominant early on thanks to dyrachyo's Slark, Quinn's Pangolier, and Ace's Timbersaw running over Azure Ray in the lanes and in the midgame teamfights. With Lou's Luna also picked off twice between the 22 and 25-minute marks, things were looking grim for the Chinese squad.

However, Azure Ray also found their own pickoffs on dyrachyo, which their deathball lineup was able to take full advantage of to secure objectives that turned the tables. With Gaimin Gladiators scrambling to regain their lead, the trio of Xm, Xxs, and XinQ scored further pickoffs that eventually gave their team the opening they needed to force the series to a decider.

Azure Ray finished game four with the huge win despite being down 29-32 in kills. Xm had a game-high 10 kills and 11 assists on two deaths, XinQ had seven kills and 12 assists on 10 deaths, while Xxs put up six kills and 13 assists on five deaths.

With all the momentum in the world, Azure Ray were simply firing on all cylinders in game five. The Chinese team confidently pulled out a surprise Outworld Destroyer pick for Xm to go with Naga Siren for Lou, Centaur Warrunner for Xxs, Shadow Demon for XinQ, and Phoenix for Jiang "天命 (tiān mìng)" An.

Azure Ray were quick to apply pressure to Gaimin Gladiators and had them on the backfoot from the laning stage onwards. And while the TI 2023 runners-up showed signs of life in some skirmishes, Azure Ray outplayed them in teamfights, with Xm and XinQ notably saving any teammates caught by Chronosphere from dyrachyo's Faceless Void or Ace's Beastmaster.

Despite Gaimin Gladiators' best attempts to mount a comeback, Azure Ray simply could not be denied as they completed the 3-2 reverse sweep after a 37-minute thriller.

Xm showed out when it mattered most, finishing with a clean eight kills and eight assists to pace Azure Ray's final 27-5 kill score. Lou pitched in with seven kills and 12 assists on one death while 天命 had six kills and 16 assists on two deaths.

With their victory, Azure Ray claimed the lion's share of US$300,000 out of the ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023's US$1 million prize pool. Meanwhile, Gaimin Gladiators settle for second place and with a nice US$175,000 in consolation.

Azure Ray roster:

1. Lou "Lou" Zhen

2. Guo "Xm" Hongcheng

3. Lin "Xxs" Jing

4. Zhao "XinQ" Zixing

5. Jiang "天命 (tiān mìng)" An

6. Wang "Liekkas" Yutian (coach)

Gaimin Gladiators roster:

1. Anton "dyrachyo" Shkredov

2. Quinn "Quinn" Callahan

3. Marcus "Ace" Hoelgaard

4. Erik "tOfu" Engel

5. Melchior "Seleri" Hillenkamo

6. Aske "Cy-" Larsen (coach)

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