Azure Ray vs Team Secret Prediction: the Chinese Team Will Make Some Trouble

Prediction for the ESL One Kuala Lumpur match which will take place on December 11th. Who will turn out to be stronger? Check the team conditions! Several betting options are available.

Azure Ray entered Dota 2 in May with a roster led by legendary Somnus, who returned to competitive play after a five-month hiatus. He was joined by veterans and former teammates Chalice and Fy, with all three players agreeing to forgo their traditional salaries for the season.

Immediately after their debut, the team became one of the top contenders in China, finishing seventh at the Bali Major and advancing to the TI12 regional qualifiers, where they defeated teams like Xtreme Gaming and Invictus Gaming. At TI12, Azure Ray players made their way to the top of the leaderboard and finished fourth, taking home $185,898 and showing that China was a stronger region than many fans expected last season. However, this team is in for a serious fall as all three of their main players have officially left the team.

The team has been heavily overhauled, and not for the better. Somnus and FY are gone, Lanm is also gone, and their replacements are weak. Xm and XinQ have been added to the AR roster. Xm also seems to have decided to do what Somnus did and play without a paycheck. Former Team Aster offlaner Xxs and former Vici Gaming coach Liekkas will join the team. The Chinese team made it to this tournament thanks to a direct invite to the top 4 of the TI12.

Team Secret got off to a horrible start in the Western European qualifiers for ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023, losing 2-0 to OG and then falling to Alliance on the first map, ending on the brink of elimination. After being left out of the qualifiers, the players came back and made their way through the lower bracket to the event, defeating Alliance and Team Tickles and getting revenge on OG before beating Entity to take the top spot. Along the way, Secret displayed impressive coordination and chemistry that continued to develop throughout the qualifiers.

Ahead of the new season, Team Secret announced the return of two former players, Miroslav "BOOM" Bican and Yeik "MidOne" Nai Zheng. The news disappointed the fans. BOOM was removed from the roster in June 2023, and MidOne played offlane instead of his usual midlane position, causing fans to worry about his play. However, the team sensationally qualified for the European qualifiers, and Puppey has likely prepared some strategies to do well in their first major tournament.

What can we expect from this match? It is difficult to predict, but the European team has at least had some game practice and feels the current meta, but the Chinese can still improve during the group stage.