ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023 favorites: who will win the tournament

The ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023, the first major Dota 2 tournament after The International 2023, is set to begin on December 11. After ESL announced the participants of groups A and B, clear favorites emerged among the teams.

Analysts and bookmakers have already given approximate predictions on who will advance to the playoffs of ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023 and possibly become the champion of the tournament.

Who will win ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023?

After the news that Team Spirit would not be able to participate in the tournament, many immediately turned their attention to their opponents in the grand final of The International 2023 – Gaimin Gladiators. Dota 2 analysts, bookmakers, and fans are betting that GG will be the winners of ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023.

Despite Gaimin Gladiators losing to Yatoro's team, they became the vice-champions of TI12, a significant argument in favor of their gaming mastery. They also won many prestigious tournaments in the previous Dota 2 season.

Gaimin Gladiators roster:

• Anton "dyrachyo" Shkryodov

• Quinn "Quinn" Callahan

• Marcus "Ace" Kristensen

• Eric "tOfu" Enge

• Melchior "Seleri" Hillenkamp

Favorites for ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023

Team Liquid

According to bookmakers' forecasts, Team Liquid also has a chance to win the tournament. The odds of their victory are only slightly behind Gaimin Gladiators. The team was one of the best in the DPC and can boast participation in the finals of almost every Dota 2 tournament. At The International 2023, they also showed impressive results but failed to reach the grand final.

Team Liquid roster:

• Mike 'miCKe' Vu

• Michał 'Nisha' Jankowski

• Jonas 'SabeRLighT-' Volek

• Samuel 'Boxi' Svahn

• Aydin 'iNSaNiA' Sarkohi

LGD Gaming

The Chinese team LGD Gaming unexpectedly changed their roster and included such renowned players as Emo and Pyw. The team showed excellent results during the playoffs of The International 2023, and after strengthening with two new esports athletes, China has every chance to at least break into the final part of the ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023.

LGD Gaming Roster:

• Guo "shiro" Shuoyan

• Zhou "Emo" Yi

• Li "niu" Kongbo

• Xuan "Pyw" Jianhan

• Zhang "y'" Lipin

BetBoom Team

After an incredible performance at The International 2023, BetBoom Team showed that they can bring surprises. Although the team cannot boast a multitude of victories in tournaments of the previous Dota 2 season, they did not change the roster after TI12, so they could surprise fans and viewers again with unexpected comebacks and victories at ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023.

BetBoom Team's roster:

• Egor “Nightfall” Grigorenko

• Danil “gpK~” Skutin

• Ivan “Pure~” Moskalenko

• Vitaliy “Save-“ Melnik

• Alexander “TORONTOTOKYO” Hertek

Team Falcons

Star newcomers at ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023 are Team Falcons. Despite having a decent roster, bookmakers and analysts have little faith in this team's victory in a major tournament. Although they already showed winning streaks at Pinnacle: 25 Year Anniversary Show, they now have to compete with the best teams in the world, which will truly show how realistic the ambitions of the new team from Saudi Arabia are in breaking into Dota 2.

Team Falcons roster:

• Stanislav "Malr1ne" Potorak

• Ammar "ATF" Al-Assaf

• Andreas "Cr1t-" Nielsen

• Jingjun "Sneyking" Wu

• Oliver "skiter" Lepko