Groups looking hot into Opening Day at ESL One Malaysia 2022

The stage is set, and the participants have received their warmest welcomes at ESL One Malaysia 2022. It is a powerhouse galore if we must summarize the event, which is second only to the majors.

Opening matches will typically set the precedent of which teams are in shape, so we aren’t disappointed by our favorite team’s upsets. Considering there is quite a number of stand-ins at ESL One Malaysia 2022.

The Group A and B Teams Distribution at ESL One Malaysia 2022

ESL One Malaysia 2022 Opening Matches & Analysis

Team Aster vs Thunder Awaken

We never really got to see TA in their prime during the Arlington Major due to multiple stand-ins, so this is the first match Aster will have against the South American squad. Contrary to popular belief, the SA scene isn’t that bad, especially TA, which placed sixth on DPC Leaderboards.

Nevertheless, Aster is certainly no pushover, being the runner-up at Arlington Major. They make up the group of Chinese powerhouses, which are well regarded as prominent opponents. As such, TA is off to one of the toughest opponents in ESL One Malaysia 2022 making this match a rough one to contest.

Team Secret vs Alliance

Things take a dip in expectations between Secret and Alliance from the Western Europe region. For one, Team Secret is still the favorite vs Alliance, albeit not an achievement worth writing home about. After all, Alliance has long been a staple in Division 2 with no sign of recovery.

However, Team Secret does have two new aces up their sleeves, who is Roman “Resolut1on” Fomynok and Baqyt “Zayac” Emiljanov. Particularly, Resolut1on has showcased promising compatibility with Secret during his stand-in at Riyadh Masters 2022. Hence, Secret could potentially be back on its feet after a season of underwhelming performance.

Team OG vs Fnatic

OG is a phenomenal team held in high regard, thanks to their energetic and pub stomp-like playstyle. Although they are occasionally mistaken for being rude and taunting, they are among the fan favorites and the Stockholm Major 2022 Champions.

While OG may sound like an unstoppable force, Fnatic is definitely no pushover. They (barely) qualify as a direct invite to the International 11 (TI11), but that’s reasonable considering they played with three stand-ins at Arlington Major.

Additionally, OG is playing with handicaps at ESL One Malaysia since Evgenii “Chuvash” Makarov stands in for Mikhail “Misha” Agatov.

BOOM Esports vs TeamSoloMid

Two heavy favorites from their respective regions, albeit TSM flopped in the last major by not qualifying at all. Even so, TSM players delivered decent Dota 2 performance as a stand-in for Fnatic at Arlington Major.

Meanwhile, BOOM may have qualified for TI11, but still seemed overrated for what they accomplished at Arlington Major. They were top eight, but considering they are the strongest team from Southeast Asia makes the entire region look mediocre at best. Regardless, our wager is on BOOM to win against TSM because the former is more consistent across multiple tournaments. They are also versatile in various meta picks, so expect them to take much inspiration from the top hero picks in Arlington Major.

Nigma Galaxy vs Team Liquid

The final featured match on opening day at ESL One Malaysia 2022 is Nigma Galaxy vs Team Liquid. We hate to sound like a broken record to feature the rivalry between the former TI7 line-up and Lasse “MATUMBAMAN” Urpalainen again. Regardless, this is a testament to how far Nigma has reformed since their downhill performance in DPC or for MATU fans, since they kicked the mid-player.

Similarly, Team Liquid is no exception among the underperformers despite their celebrated success during the early half of DPC season. Since then, they have been unable to keep up with their foreign counterparts, such as BOOM Esports and Fnatic.

Many held Liquid in high regard because of their promising veteran players, which also includes Ludwig “zai” Wåhlberg and ex-Alliance players, such as Michael “miCKe” Vu and Aydin “iNSaNiA” Sarkohi. In fact, they are so talent-loaded that they even have the two-time champion, Jesse “JerAx” Vainikka as a coach. Anyhow, we will have to favor Team Liquid against Nigma because the latter is missing Amer “Miracle-” Al-Barkawi, their wunderkind.

In hindsight, there’s no shortage of interesting matches on day 1 of ESL One Malaysia 2022. Hence, do drop by the stream for entertaining Dota 2 action.