ESL One Genting 2017 preview; Teams, groups, schedule

The ESL One Genting 2017 preview will bring fans up to speed on all there is to know for this big event. ESL One Genting 2017 will be kicking off the first major LAN tournament of the new year. Eight teams will be competing at the Genting Highlands resort area of Malaysia for the $250,000 prize pool January 6-8, 2017. The stakes are high with hopes a championship title will help grant a direct invite to the Kiev Major to be held in April 2017.

The ESL One Genting 2017 preview brings together all of the must know information in one place.

The first major LAN event of the new 2017 year and Kiev Major season – eight teams have converged at the highest peak an esports tournament has been held so far – at the Genting Highlands resort area of Malaysia.

Six of the eight teams have not made any roster changes since last season and their participation in the Boston Major. Their hope – their stability and cohesion will pay off and see them through to a championship title.

Two teams – Execration and Fnatic have made roster changes in order to improve their results and chances.

All of the teams are poised for compelling performances for a resounding victory – a title here could mean a direct invite to Kiev Major in April.

The action kicks off tomorrow, January 6th at 03:30 CET with group stage matches; Virtus.Pro vs Fnatic and Newbee vs Team NP.

ESL One Genting 2017 preview: Teams

• Wings Gaming (direct invite)
• Digital Chaos (direct invite)
• Fnatic (direct invite)
• Virtus Pro (EU qualifiers winners)
• Team NP (Americas qualifiers winners)
• Execration (SEA qualifiers winners)
• Newbee (China qualifiers winner)
• WarriorsGaming.Unity (Malaysia qualifiers)

ESL One Genting 2017 preview: Format

• The group stage will be played in a classic GSL format.
• The eight participating teams will be split up into two groups of four.

  In each group, the teams will play best-of-three matches, as shown below:

  Match one: Team A vs. Team B
  Match two: Team C vs. Team D
  Winners’ match (WM): Winner of match one vs. winner of match two – winner advances to semifinals
  Elimination match (EM): Loser of match one vs. loser of match two – loser drops out
  Decider match: Loser of WM vs. winner of EM – winner advances to semifinals and loser drops out

• Four teams will advance into the playoffs.
• Four teams will be eliminated in the group stage.
• During the playoffs, four teams will play a single-elimination bracket.
• The Grand Finals will be best-of-five series, with no winners’ advantage.

ESL One Genting 2017 preview: Groups

Group A

• Virtus.Pro
• Fnatic
• Newbee
• Team NP

Group B

• Digital Chaos
• Execration
• Wings Gaming
• WarriorsGaming.Unity

ESL One Genting 2017 preview: Schedule

All matches will be played back-to-back.

Friday, January 6th (closed to the public)

• 03:30 CET – Virtus.Pro vs Fnatic
• 03:30 CET – Newbee vs Team NP
• 05:00 CET – Digital Chaos vs Execration
• 05:00 CET – Wings Gaming vs. WarriorsGaming.Unity
• 06:20 CET – Group A winners’ match (Bo3)
• 09:55 CET – Group B winners’ match (Bo3)

Saturday, January 7th

• 03:30 CET – Group A elimination match (Bo3)
• 07:05 CET – Group B elimination match (Bo3)
• 10:40 CET – Group A decider match (Bo3)
• 14:15 CET – Group B decider match (Bo3)

Sunday, January 8th

• 03:30 CET – Semifinal two (Group B seed one vs. Group A seed two) (Bo3)
• 07:05 CET – Semifinal one (Group B seed two vs. Group A seed one) (Bo3)
• 10:55 CEST – Grand finals (Bo5)

ESL One Genting 2017 preview: Prize Pool

The base prize pool for the tournament is $250,000.

• 1st place – $100,000
• 2nd place – $50,000
• 3rd-4th place – $25,000
• 5th-8th place – $12,500

ESL One Genting 2017 preview: Team insight

Only yesterday, Fnatic finalized their roster for the first LAN of the new year.

At the end of November Jimmy “DeMoN” Ho, Nico “eyyou” Barcelon and Marc Polo “Raven” Luis Fausto took their leave from the squad, following a sub-par season and limited achievements.

Joining Chai “Mushi” Yee Fung and Chong Xin “Ohaiyo” Khoo – both who have been on the team since June 2015 will be Korean support star Yong-min “Febby” Kim, newcomer Indonesian player Muhammad Rizky “Inyourdream” Anugrah and renowned legendary Malaysian player Ng “YamateH” Wei Poong.

YamateH is considered a stand in for the team for the event.

Fnatic roster

Chai “Mushi” Yee Fung
Chong Xin “Ohaiyo” Khoo
Yong-min “Febby” Kim
Muhammad Rizky “Inyourdream” Anugrah
Ng “YamateH” Wei Poong (stand-in)

#ESLOne Genting​ is just 5 days away and @FNATIC are set to surprise us with a new squad. What are your roster shuffle predictions? pic.twitter.com/BDCRgRrnro

— ESL Dota2 (@ESLDota2) January 2, 2017

w33 at TI6

The North American team has not made any changes in their roster since the last season.

The season had been relatively quiet for the team – they took 5-6th place at The Summit 6 and 4th in the offbeat favorite- Elimination Mode 2.0 but then made a much noise at the Boston Major where they took an impressive 3-4th place finish.

Weeks ago they participated in China Top 2016 coming in 3-4th place for the four team exclusive event.

New Digital Chaos roster:

Aliwi “w33” Omar
Roman “Resolut1on” Fominok
David “Moon” Tan
Martin “Saksa” Sazdov
Rasmus “MiSeRy” Filipsen

The most American NA squad there ever was – @DIGITALCHAOSgg – are looking for their first #ESLOne trophy. Can they succeed in Genting? pic.twitter.com/zfnXTCxu8b

— ESL Dota2 (@ESLDota2) January 4, 2017

Wings Gaming at China Top 2016 awards

The Chinese titans have not made any changes in their roster once again. The TI6 championship team had decided to keep their roster intact since August 2015.

Last season they claimed their first championship title for the year at Nanyang Dota 2 Championships – Cruise Cup #1 and Northern Arena BEAT Invitational LAN, fourth at the Summit 6. They had disappointing results at Boston Major with a 9-16th place finish and seem to have struggled a bit since.

Wings have received a spate of recognition and awards lately.The team was nominated for the prestigious Laureus Awards, alongside well known athletes and sports teams from across the world and and Games Awards 2016.

Wings also received a certificate from the Guiness World Records for winning the largest single prize in esports – $9,139,002.

Wings Gaming roster:

Zhou “bLink” Yang
Zhang “bian” Ruida
Chu “Shadow” Zeyu
Zhang “Innocence” Yiping
Li “iceice” Peng

Can @wingsgamingcn become the first Dota 2 team to lift two #ESLOne trophies? Their title defense begins this Friday! pic.twitter.com/BnLxXpKY0n

— ESL Dota2 (@ESLDota2) January 4, 2017

Team NP had chosen to continue with their lineup from last season when they formed – on September 9th when Jacky “EternaLEnVy” Mao revealed his new lineup and brand.

The team had a strong presence their first season, dominating qualifiers for LAN spots including ESL One Genting 2017 and The Summit 6 – eventually taking 5-6th place in the BTS event. They replaced Digital Chaos at Northern Arena BEAT Invitational, ultimately taking second place and resulting in them dropping out of DreamLeague Season 6.

They ultimately took a commendable 5-8th place finish at Boston Major.

Team NP roster

Jacky “Eternal Envy” Mao
Kurtis “Aui” Ling
Theeban “1437” Siva
Arif “MSS” Anwar
Avery “SVG” Silverman

They've had time to adapt to the new patch and @NPDotA are ready for #ESLOne Genting!
How do you think they will fare in Malaysia? pic.twitter.com/BQWqcVO2Ms

— ESL Dota2 (@ESLDota2) January 2, 2017

Newbee’s roster from last season has continued to remain together for the new Kiev Major season.

The Chinese team had a strong showing earlier last season, barely a hint of struggle with the new additions in the roster. Newbee’s season was quite busy, claiming two second place finishes at LANs – MDL 2016 and Nanyang Cruise Cup and several first place finishes in regional events and qualifiers.

After a disappointing 9-16th place finish at Boston Major and 5-10th place at World Cyber Arena 2016, the team rebounded back for second place at China Top 2016 and to claim the championship title for Dota2 Professional League Season 2 – Top only one week ago.

Newbee roster

Zeng “Faith” Hongda
Song “Sccc” Chun
Damien “kphoenii” Chok
Hu “Kaka” Liangzhi
Xu “uuu9” Han

The Boston Major might not have gone their way, but @NewbeeCN now have their sights set on the #ESLOne Genting trophy. pic.twitter.com/l0iUcthB5W

— ESL Dota2 (@ESLDota2) January 3, 2017

The CIS stronghold has not made any changes in their roster for the new major season.

The new roster led by Alexey “Solo” Berezin was revealed early August, prior to the post-TI6 reshuffle.

VP took their first title for the new season in BTS EU series #4.

The team has risen to the ranks of being considered one of the most feared opponents lately. Following their first title, the continued by taking the qualifier spots for The Summit 6, Dota Pit Leagues Season 5, Boston Major, and ESL One Genting 2017. THey then took second place DreamLeague Season 6 and another championship title – at The Summit 6.

They had a strong showing and took 5-8th place at the Boston Major to round out their successful year.

Virtus.Pro roster

Alexey “Solo” Berezin
Ilya “Lil” Ilyuk
Roman “Ramzes666” Kushnarev
Pavel “9pasha” Hvastunov
Vladimir “No[O]ne” Minenko

The rising Malaysian team has remained stable since last season.

Since August, the team has won at least five minor tournaments in the region.

For the Boston Major the team had to come to the regional qualifiers through the open brackets, taking an impressive 5-8th final place at the main event.

Immediately following, they headed to China, taking 5-10th place at World Cyber Arena 2016, followed by two championship titles for minor regional tournaments.

WarriorsGaming.Unity roster

Lai “Ahjit” Jay Son
Kam “NaNa” Boon Seng
Chua “KaNG” Soon Khong
Tue “Ahfu” Soon Chuan
Jian Wei “xNova-“ Yap

WarriorsGaming.Unity will be representing Malaysia at #ESLOne Genting in four days. How far can the home crowd favorites go? pic.twitter.com/Shqcy1KnHT

— ESL Dota2 (@ESLDota2) January 3, 2017

The Filipino team has made two changes in their roster for this upcoming season.

At the end of last month, it was announced that Abed Azel “Abed” Yusop has parted ways with the organization to take a short break. Adam “343 Shah had also taken his leave from the team – he had become part of the organization for the Boston Major, moving Rafael “Rapy” Sicat Palo into the substitute role.

Fernando “Nando” Mendoza has made a return back to the team now – having been let go during the post TI6 shuffle.

Rounding out the roster is Joshua “Owa” Dela Serna who had played with Mineski for several years – 2011 until 2015 before taking a two year professional hiatus.

For the fall season they had taken first place at MPGL and ASUS ROG SEA CUP but were unable to attend Boston Major despite their invitation due to delayed visa issues.

Since then, with the new roster, they have taken first place in the ASUS ROG SEA Cup and second place in SEA Kappa Invitational Season 3.

Execration roster

Joshua “Owa” Dela Serna
Kimuel “Kim0” Rodis
Djardel “DJ” Mampusti
Kim “Gabbi” Villafuerte
flag country=”ph”] Fernando “Nando” Mendoza

New roster, new challenge! Revamped @ExecrationGG are eager to show the world why they were a direct Boston Major invite. #ESLOne pic.twitter.com/ENne9Mxyd3

— ESL Dota2 (@ESLDota2) January 4, 2017