The reason why the top Dota 2 teams cannot afford to miss ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023 has been revealed

From December 11 to 17 of this year, Malaysia is set to host the LAN tournament for Dota 2 - ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023. This is the first major tournament after the conclusion of The International 2023 and boasts an impressive prize pool of 1 million dollars.

Although the prize money for the top teams may not seem as significant, the world's best teams cannot afford to miss this tournament. And the reason is not related to the prize pool.

In our article, we will explore why the tournament in Kuala Lumpur is so important, even for the TI12 winners, Team Spirit.

Why can't the best teams of The International 2023 miss ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023?

The importance of Kuala Lumpur 2023 lies not in the prize pool but in the fact that ESL is the organizer. This means that participating and performing well in this tournament accrue points towards receiving an invitation to Riyadh Masters 2024.

This was brought to attention by Dmitry "Korb3n" Belov, the manager of Team Spirit, during his Twitch stream.

"You see, the thing is, ESL means Riyadh. Thus, ESL tournaments and DreamLeague tournaments are also related to Riyadh. If you don't play in them, you won't get points. No other tournaments provide points for Riyadh. So you must play in ESL tournaments"

As Korb3n emphasized, even the winners of the Dota 2 world championship cannot afford to miss ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023. Top teams will be participating not just for the prize money, but for points towards an invitation to one of the main tournaments of the following year - Riyadh Masters 2024.

What is Riyadh Masters?

Riyadh Masters is the largest offline Dota 2 tournament held in the capital of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, organized by the Saudi Esports Federation and ESL. Many consider this tournament the main competitor of The International. This view is supported by the fact that in 2023, the prize pool for Riyadh Masters 2023 amounted to 15 million dollars, while The International 2023 was only 3.1 million.

It is natural for the top Dota 2 teams to try to secure an invite to compete for such a substantial prize pool. For comparison, Team Spiritt received 1.3 million dollars for winning TI12 and previously earned 5 million dollars for winning the championship title at Riyadh Masters 2023.

How points are accrued for an invitation to Riyadh Masters

It is important to remember that to participate in Riyadh Masters, it is crucial to participate and show good results in DreamLeague tournaments. Last year, 6 participating teams were selected based on the results of two DreamLeague seasons.

The remaining 11 teams were selected based on their ESL points or ESL Pro Tour (EPT) rankings, which could be earned by participating in relevant tournaments like ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023. The best teams in their regional slot received an invitation to one of the major tournaments of the year and a chance to compete for prizes worth several million dollars.