Dota 2 ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023 Day 3 highlights: Azure Ray's dominating run, Quinn defeats MidOne in tiebreaker, and more 

Dota 2 ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023 Day 3 boasted intense matchups and notable upsets. Blacklist International, Wawitas Sagazes, LGD Gaming, and 9Pandas were eliminated from the tournament. Azure Ray and Gaimin Gladiators secured the top spots in Group A, while G2.iG and Team Falcons shared the spotlight in Group B.

The group stage concluded with four teams being shown the door and the remaining sorted into the Upper and Lower Brackets. Azure Ray pushed the newly formed all-stars organization, Team Falcons, to Dota 2 ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023 Lower Bracket after a gripping Bo3 series.

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Dota 2 ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023 Day 3 highlights

1) Azure Ray's dominating run

Before locking horns with Team Falcons, Azure Ray clean-swept Gaimin Gladiators in their final group-stage matchup. Since the Chinese team topped Group A, they were given an Upper Bracket slot against Team Falcons.

The first match's MVP was none other than Xinq's Earthshaker. His flawless Fissure stuns, coupled with mind-boggling Echo Slams, helped his team defeat Falcons. Skiter's inability to counter strength-based heroes with Lifestealer and ATF's last pick, Dragon Knight, was the major reason why Falcons lost the first game.

The second game unfolded differently as Falcons, led by Skiter's Spectre, dismantled the Chinese team. The fusion of pure damage and potent burst damage proved too much for Azure Ray to handle.

In the final game of the series, Azure Ray showcased their tactical superiority by ratting. Lou's Lone Druid sieged Radiant's base while Skiter's Faceless Void was occupied with Roshan.

Falcons started losing their buildings slowly due to Void's absence. When the latter returned to the base, Dire heroes snowballed him, secured mega creeps, and ultimately won the game soon after.

Azure Ray's post-TI season is better than ever, and they are poised to face Gaimin Gladiators in the Dota 2 ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023 Upper Bracket Final.

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2) Quinn defeats MidOne in tiebreaker

Team Secret and Gaimin Gladiators finished Group A with the same number of points, leading to a tiebreaker featuring a classic 1v1 Shadow Fiend Dota 2 duel. MidOne and Quinn, the midlaners for Team Secret and GG, respectively, began the game with completely different builds.

MidOne's choice of two Blood Grenades proved ineffective against Quinn's two Circlets on Shadow Fiend. Additionally, Secret's midlaner made another mistake by starting the laning phase with Necromastery. On the contrary, GG's midlaner took Shadowraze at level 1, easily securing gold from the first wave without breaking a sweat.

Quinn went on to dominate the game with constant Shadowraze and right-clicks on MidOne's Shadow Fiend. The latter's build also proved less effective as he struggled to secure last hits. Taking advantage of this, Quinn chased MidOne out of the lane.

For some strange reason, MidOne denied himself to the creeps even after Quinn stopped pursuing him. In 1v1 duels, both mid heroes get two lives each, and it doesn't matter to which unit they lose their life, as it gets counted.

MidOne returned to his lane after respawning and lost his final life to Quinn, who, at this point, had a staggering 1k gold lead over his counterpart. Gaimin Gladiators' midlaner single-handedly carried the team to the Dota 2 ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023 Upper Bracket.

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3) Gaimin Gladiators advances to Upper Bracket Final

After the tiebreaker, Gaimin Gladiators squared off against G2.iG in the Upper Bracket Semifinals. The first game was a typical Meepo stomp, with GG's heroes falling prey to JT's Meepo. Additionally, G2.iG's physical damage-based lineup overwhelmed the TI12 finalists.

The second game presented a different scenario as GG bounced back with Quinn's Pangolier, dyrachyo's Alchemist, and an unusual Elder Titan offlane pick by Ace. JT was given Meepo again, but this time, he was easily shut down by GG as they finished the Dota 2 game within a mere 27 minutes.

The third game was a rundown by GG, as they ended it in a similar fashion. NothingToSay's Earthshaker pick proved disastrous as it proved to be ineffective with a severe gold drought.

Ace's Lycan, combined with dyrachyo's Alchemist, took down Dire's mid racks within 24 minutes. Five minutes later, G2.iG tapped out, and GG advanced to the Dota 2 ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023 Upper Bracket Final.

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4) Emo sends Team Liquid to Lower Bracket

Team Liquid faced LGD Gaming in their final group stage Bo2 matchup. In the first game, Micke's Luna outfarmed Shiro's Chaos Knight and took an active part in teamfights after obtaining BKB and Manta Style. Additionally, Nisha's Pangolier power spike scaled alongside Luna and defeated the Chinese team at 37 minutes.

The second game, however, dragged on for an hour, where both the teams were winning significant teamfights. Emo's Storm Spirit and Shiro's Monkey King were all over the map, looking for easy kills. After multiple failed pushes, LGD used SOD and rushed to Dire's Roshan Pit. The team reached the Lotus Pool and were ambushed by Liquid's heroes.

SabeRLight's Kunkka and Boxi's Crystal Maiden instantly bought back and joined the now-erupted teamfight after getting picked off via Wukong's Command. Storm Spirit equipped with Bloodstone zipped all over Kunkka who died slowly without any help and buyback. He then right-clicked the Crystal Maiden to death.

Liquid lost the teamfight miserably and were forced to retreat as Weaver also died at the hands of Storm Spirit. Emo ended the fight with a memorable triple kill, and without wasting a single minute, LGD swarmed Dire's base and destroyed the Ancient.

Much to everyone's surprise, Team Liquid were dropped to the Dota 2 ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023 Lower Bracket Round 1.

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