KUALA LUMPUR: Two Malaysian e-sports teams, Fnatic and Warriors Gaming (WG) Unity, are raring to go at the Dota 2 ESL One Genting 2017 Championship at the Arena of Stars, Resorts World Genting, which kicks off tomorrow.
Fnatic team manager Khor Wei Soon, 28, said this tournament is set to be a challenging one as they recently lost three players.
"We have already found their replacements. For now, Chai Yee Fung (Mushi) and Khoo Chong Xin (Ohaiyo) will play the 'carry' and ‘offlane’ roles.
“’Febby’ Kim Yong Min (formerly of South Korean team MVP Phoenix) will play as support while veteran local player Ng Wei Poong (YamateH) will also hold the same role.
“Indonesia’s highest ranked player, Muhammad Rizky (InYourDream), is our best choice as the mid player. We hope that the inclusion of these new members will lift the team’s performance,” he said.
Asked on the latest Dota 2 patch, 7.00, Khor said the large-scale changes can help sharpen the team.
“Not everyone likes the changes, but Fnatic sees it as an opportunity for us to develop the potential of every player.
“The changes have barely been in place for a month, so all competing teams are in the early stages of adapting. We are confident of giving our best this time around,” he said.
Fnatic had their breakthrough last year when they clinched fourth place at The International 2016, bagging US$1.4 million in prize money.
Meanwhile, WG Unity is looking on riding the wave of their commendable performance at the Boston Major in December.
WG Unity had beat Fnatic and Mineski on their way to a qualifier spot, but were not given serious attention until the group stages, when they beat defending International champs Wings Gaming 2-1 to open the tournament.
WG Unity team manager Beh Kok Weng, 34, said they aim to continue their fine run in ESL One.
“We started from the bottom; no one knew who we were. But that didn’t break our spirit, in fact, we went out to prove that we had what it takes to compete on the international stage,” Beh said.
Beh is targeting a semi-final spot for WG Unity.
“The group stages will be difficult, as there are experienced teams which had previously competed in The International.
“Nevertheless, I believe that our run at the Boston Major has imbued us with a belief that we can do more. We’re going all out to make Malaysia proud,” said Beh.
ESL One Genting is the first ESL to be held in Malaysia, with the cooperation of Resorts World Genting. It will run from Jan 6 to 8, featuring eight Dota 2 teams from across the globe.
It offers a collective prize of US$250,000 (RM1,121,875).
** ESL One Genting 2017 will be streamed live over Media Prima Television Networks’ (MPTN) video streaming portal, Tonton.
High Definition (HD) live streaming of all the events – two days of semi-finals and the grand finals on January 6, 7 and 8 respectively at 6pm onwards daily - will be available for free to all registered Tonton users.