Azure Ray Xxs on their Dota 2 victory at ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023: 'We were not mentally affected by the losses'
Instead, being down 0-2 in the Grand Finals forced Azure Ray to adapt and shake up their drafts, which worked beautifully as they pulled off the 3-2 reverse sweep.
The 2023 Dota 2 season ended with a bang last Sunday (17 December) when Chinese powerhouse Azure Ray pulled off an incredible 3-2 reverse sweep over Western European juggernauts Gaimin Gladiators to claim the championship of ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023.
It was Azure Ray's first-ever tournament victory as an organisation, having only been formed back in May. And with the Chinese Dota 2 scene declining over the past couple of the years, it was the shot in the arm desperately needed by what has long been one of the game's top regions.
In an exclusive interview with Yahoo Esports SEA, Azure Ray offlaner Lin "Xxs" Jing credited the team's mental resilience as the main reason why they managed to reverse sweep the most dominant team in Dota 2 this year.
"In the Group Stage and Playoffs, we were not mentally affected by the losses. We were relaxed as usual and slowly learnt from each game we played," said Xxs.
Azure Ray's journey at ESL One Kuala Lumpur
To be fair to Azure Ray, they didn't have that many losses to learn from heading into the Grand Finals.
In the Group Stage, the Chinese squad claimed the first seed of Group A with a 8-2 record, ahead of Gaimin Gladiators who finished with a 6-4 line. Azure Ray then defeated the star-studded Team Falcons in the upper bracket semifinals to advance to the upper bracket finals in the main event at the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre.
The tournament was then thrown into chaos when Dota 2's huge 7.35 update was released on the morning of Friday (15 December), mere hours before the main event was set to begin. Azure Ray seems to have been thrown off by the sudden shakeup of the metagame, as Gaimin Gladiators soundly swept them in the upper bracket finals despite in a complete reversal of their previous encounter with the Chinese squad in the Group Stage.
However, Azure Ray bounced back and defeated Team Liquid, 2-1, in the lower bracket finals to earn a rematch with Gaimin Gladiators in the Grand Finals.
The Chinese squad had a disastrous start in the championship match, as Gaimin Gladiators took the first two games of the series in less than 28 minutes each. Azure Ray showed signs of life in a dominant 29-minute win in game three before roaring back into the match with a 39-minute comeback in game four.
In the deciding game five, Azure Ray had all the momentum in the world and closed out the 3-2 reverse sweep in a 37-minute rout.
While those first two losses in the finals didn't affect Azure Ray mentally, Xxs said it did prompt them to shake up their strategies, which worked to their success.
"Our strategy in the first two games was playable against Gaimin Gladiators' but we ultimately lost, and I think some of the details and decisions were poor. So, we kept adjusting and improving our strategy, and it was effective in the end," said Xxs.
One of the defining characteristics of Azure Ray's run to the championship in Kuala Lumpur was their unorthodox and exciting drafts.
In both the lower bracket finals and the Grand Finals, the Chinese squad pulled out picks like the previously unpopular position 4 support Nyx Assassin for Zhao "XinQ" Zhixing as well as unothodox mid heroes like Bounty Hunter, Viper, Slardar, and Outworld Destroyer for midlaner Guo "Xm" Hongcheng.
Xxs credited XinQ for his team's brilliant drafts, even naming him as the team's MVP for the tournament.
"I think XinQ made the biggest contribution because he had a lot of good ideas during the drafting phase as well as during the game," said Xxs.
Aside from their drafts, Azure Ray had plenty of highlight-worthy plays en route to the championship too. For Xxs, the moment he knew the trophy was in their hands was when he hit a three-man Hoof Stomp as Centaur Warrunner in the decisive clash of game five.
"I think it was when we fought on the high ground on the bottom lane. The fight was perfect. I Hoof Stomped three opponents and I felt they couldn't hold on anymore and we were winning," said Xxs.
Azure Ray's offlaner also highlighted how much fun he had during the Grand Finals, even if they had to pull off what must have been a stressful 3-2 reverse sweep to win it. Xxs said he didn't mind the trash-talking segment before the Grand Finals or an interview by Gaimin Gladiators' Anton "dyrachyo" Shkredov where he apparently joked that Azure Ray were 'trash'.
"When [Gaimin Gladiators] said we were trash or something similar, I felt it was fun and meant to entertain. It makes this tournament more interesting," said Xxs.
"This trash-talking segment is not bad and we can have more of that in the future. It's quite interesting."
With their victory at ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023, Azure Ray claimed the lion's share of US$300,000 out of the US$1 million prize pool. Meanwhile, Gaimin Gladiators settle for second place and with a nice US$175,000 in consolation.
Azure Ray roster:
Lou "Lou" Zhen
Guo "Xm" Hongcheng
Lin "Xxs" Jing
Zhao "XinQ" Zixing
Jiang "天命 (tiān mìng)" An
Wang "Liekkas" Yutian (coach)
For more esports news updates, visit https://yhoo.it/YahooEsportsSEA and check out Yahoo Esports Southeast Asia’s Facebook page and Twitter, as well as our Gaming channel on YouTube.
