- Malaysia recently held its very own Dota 2 tournament, complete with a large prize pool of RM500,000.
- Geek Fam took home the grand prize of RM150,000, followed by Highlanders who scored a nice RM100,000.
- The industry is well on its way up, with major developments and investments globally and locally.
Action in the world of e-sports is in full swing, and while most had their eyes on the massive ESL One Dota 2 tournament happening in Poland over the weekend, Malaysia hosted the grand finals of its very own massive Dota 2 tournament—the Malaysia Esports League (MESL) at Mid Valley Exhibition Centre.
Launched last year, the MESL tournament was held over a period of nearly six months beginning last October and featured a prize pool of RM500,000, with U Mobile as the lead sponsor.
The tournament began in a league format that saw 16 professional Dota 2 teams from Malaysia fight it out through a series round robins, where only eight teams were left to compete in the playoffs that ended last Sunday.
In a thriller of a grand final, Geek Fam took down Highlanders to win with a scoreline of 3 to 1 and take home the grand prize of RM150,000. Highlanders took home RM100,000 as runners-up.
Champions Geek Fam entered MESL through the Kuala Lumpur qualifiers and managed to outlast other teams, some of which consisted of more decorated veterans in the scene. The Geek Fam team are comprised of Andrei “Skemberlu” Ong, Ng “ChYuan” Kee Chyuan, Chan “Oli” Chon Ken, AJ “xRag” Casanada, and Thiay “March” Jun Wen, three of whom are Malaysians.
The tournament was organised by the Mineski Events Team, who stated the intention of fostering more Malaysian Dota 2 talent with the hope that they will be able to become more competitive on a global level.
“In the long run, we want to see more representatives from Malaysia at the prestigious The International tournament especially in 2018,” said Mineski Events Team managing director Kenchi Yap at the launch of MESL last August.
Following in the footsteps of the ESL One tournament that took place in Genting in January, MESL’s RM500,000 prize pool keeps with the current trend of large cash prizes offered at e-sports events.
As it stands, MESL is the locally organised e-sports tournament with the highest prize pool, beating out the Malaysia Cyber Games in January that a combined pool of RM300,000. Apart from the main Dota 2 tournament, there were also side tournaments for FIFA 18 and Mobile Legends, with prize pools of RM20,000 each.
It’s an exciting time for e-sports both globally and locally, with high profile developments happening in the scene all around the world. The Asian Games set to happen in Jakarta this year will feature e-sports as part of a trial run before it becomes a medal event at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.
Parties with huge amounts of money are also investing heavily into the industry, with USA e-sports team Echo Fox’s ownership group Vision Esports raising US$38million just last week.
All these considered, now is a great time to get into e-sports.
- If you’re looking to get started as a spectator, check out our beginner’s guide here.
Feature Image Credit: Fire Dragoon Dota
