Dota 2
ESL One Malaysia 2022 started yesterday, so we have a few days to watch the final LAN event before The International 11. Even though this tournament does not provide any DPC points, it has a lucrative prize pool of $400,000. Hence, it attracted some of the best in the world.
Although names like Team Spirit and PSG.LGD are not there, we can watch teams like OG, Team Secret, Aster, and many more. All of them had the chance to play yesterday, and the same happened today. We have a couple of days until the Group Stage is over, so there is still time for some teams to show their prowess.
With that said, let’s learn more about what happened today.
Alliance won its first map in a while
There is no arguing that Alliance is one of the teams that people wonder why received an invitation. Nikobaby and the rest did not win a single series in Division I during Tour 3 and failed to qualify for any big event. Despite that, ESL decided to invite the team to the tournament.
Unsurprisingly, Alliance lost both of their matches yesterday. The team failed to defeat Entity and Team Secret, which meant they had to step up their game today if they wanted to survive.
Surprisingly, w33 and the rest won their first map in a while after defeating Talon Esports in game 1. We didn’t expect this to happen because Talon’s pick was really good against Huskar and Pudge from Alliance. However, the European powerhouse had an excellent laning stage that allowed them to snowball and win the map.
Sadly, Alliance could not win the series because Talon bounced back in the second game. Despite getting their signature Phantom Assassin, Talon’s Invoker and Enigma combo proved to be too strong and allowed the team to equalize the series.
Talon fails to defeat Aster
After the test against Talon Esports, it was time for Alliance to face the favorite in Group A - Aster. Unsurprisingly, the Chinese squad was the better team and ripped through their enemies in the first game of the series.
Aster’s draft allowed their QoP and Void to shine even during the laning stage. Alliance decided to use Nikobaby’s Medusa because of the recent changes, but it seems like this was not a good idea.
Aster knows exactly how to play against the clock, which is why the team started pressuring their opponents from the getgo. In the end, the team needed just 29 minutes to win the match.
The match's second game was way more interesting to watch because both teams had equal chances of winning. Alliance decided to change things and picked Lycan, Primal Beast, and Pudge. In other words, the team focused on pushing and teamfights. As for Aster, the team decided to stick to the previous meta and went for a Void-Snapfire-Puck pick.
The game was full of back-and-forth action because Alliance and Aster did their best to win. Although Alliance did their best, Aster was the better team, especially in the late game. Their Void landed good Chronos, which won them a couple of fights and the series.
Thunder Awaken bounced back after Day 1
One of the teams we were interested in during Day 1 was Thunder Awaken. Despite being one of the best in South America, the squad lost both its series, which put them in a bad spot. Fortunately, DarkMago and the rest bounced back on Day 2.
Thunder Awaken had an excellent start to the day after defeating Entity. Despite being the underdogs, the South American squad won a very intense game one and had little to no problems in the series’ second game. The team used the new patch to its advantage and won the game after just 26 minutes.
TA vs Talon
After winning the first match, Thunder Awaken had to play against Talon Esports. The latter got a draw in their first series, so they were looking to win the second one. With that said, things didn’t go as planned because this match also ended in a draw.
We had the chance to watch two fast games where one of the two teams dominated. Thunder Awaken won the first match and looked good in the second one. However, Talon Esports.
Group B
The action in Group B was equal, if not more interesting, than the first one mainly because of the epic series that were lined up.
OG is stronger than ever
OG is undeniably one of the big favorites to win ESL One Malaysia, and the team continues to impress with its performance. Following yesterday’s two victories, OG showed its prowess yet again, especially in the match against TSM.
Interestingly, ESL One Stockhom’s champions decided to pick Shadow Fiend and Techies in game one, which their opponents did not expect. The North American squad tried to respond by picking LC and a few other interesting heroes, but OG won the map.
The second game also seemed one-sided, at least in the beginning, because OG had a better draft. The team dominated in the laning stage, especially in bot and mid. Ammar’s signature Timbersaw completely destroyed TSM’s safe lane, and the same happened in mid.
Despite that, the North American squad won a few crucial fights that allowed their TA, QoP, and Axe to slowly become much stronger than their opponents. OG tried to prevent their enemies from winning by throwing everything they had, but it was not enough. TSM won the second map and secured itself a third draw in this event.
Nigma Galaxy looks dangerous
Aside from OG, the second team from Western Europe in Group B that people are interested in is called Nigma.Galaxy. MinD_ContRoL and his teammates got two draws on Day 1, so it was time for the team to show what its capable of.
Even though it was not easy, Nigma.Galaxy defeated BOOM Esports after two epic games. The first one was slightly more interesting because both teams had very good chances of winning.
Although neither had a significant advantage until the late game, Nigma Galaxy seemed slightly stronger in the fights. Things changed around the 35th minute of the game after Nigma Galaxy decided to use a Smoke. The team fight right after that was in their favor, and it was enough to win.
The second game was similar to the first one, but Nigma Galaxy seemed even more dominant. Kuro and the rest used their classic Terroblade and didn’t give BOOM’s deadly Zeus and Void any chances of succeeding.
OG vs Nigma Galaxy
This was the series that everyone wanted to see because it put up two of the best teams at ESL One Malaysia 2022. Even more interesting is that OG was first in the group, whereas NGX was second.
Although we were eager to watch an epic match where both teams had chances of winning, this was not really the case. OG dominated both games and secured yet another victory that allowed the team to secure one of the slots for the next event stage.
Ammar and his favorite Huskar in the offlane didn’t allow NGX to win the safe lane. The same happened in the offlane, which means that mid was the only position where Nigma had some chances. Sadly, this didn’t last long because OG secured an Aegis early on and allowed Ammar to become almost unstoppable. Needless to say, he gave his team the first victory.
Following the loss in the first game, the same happened in the second one. Nigma tried to use Primal Beast to surprise their opponents, but OG bet on their Alchemist and Pangolier. The laning stage was not as easy as they thought, but once Alch started farming, things became heavily one-sided.
After 33 minutes, OG won the second game and defeated their second-strongest team in the group.
Honorable mentions
Aside from the matches mentioned above, Fnatic also secured two draws, which puts them in second place in Group B. Nigma occupied this sport, but the loss against OG placed it third.
The other SEA team surprised most of its fans because it is currently last in the group. No one expected BOOM Esports to achieve these results, but the team lost one match and got a draw in the second one. The bad news is that BOOM will have to go up against OG tomorrow, whereas TSM has a match against Team Liquid. Hence, qualifying for the Playoffs will be pretty hard, if not impossible.
Speaking of Liquid, MATU and the rest have the last chance of qualifying for the event's next stage. To do that, they must defeat TSM and hope that OG will defeat BOOM.
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