Where to Watch ESL One Bangkok 2024 – Ultimate Viewer Guide

The final S-Tier tournament of the 2024 Dota 2 season is upon us. Taking place next week is ESL One Bangkok 2024 – a blessing to the millions of Southeast Asian fans in the scene. With all new rosters having time to settle in, we should expect some of the highest-tier Dota action since The International. You definitely don’t want to miss out on the action, so here is the ultimate viewer guide for ESL One Bangkok. 

ESL One Bangkok 2024 Overview

ESL One Bangkok 2024 is a Dota 2 tournament that will take place from December 9 to 15, acting as the last stretch before we enter the new year.

The event takes place in the capital city of Thailand and will be played on LAN. Group Stage matches, and the first round of Upper Bracket matches will be played in hotel rooms, while the rest of the Playoffs will be witnessed in front of a live audience.

'Anti-Mage in his natural habitat: the jungle 😂'#ESLOne Bangkok is fast approaching! 🤩

Come visit this amazing city and see all the incredible sights whilst enjoying some fantastic Dota!! pic.twitter.com/1ptfuAmpJr

— ESL Dota2 (@ESLDota2) November 28, 2024

The venue for the Playoffs will be hosted in the Royal Paragon Hall conference center, which boasts a maximum capacity of 5,000 attendees. 

Viewer’s Guide – Time Zones and Where to Watch

All ESL One Bangkok days begin at 12:00 PM Bangkok time, which falls under the GMT +7 time zone. 

For once, Asian fans such as myself will have a healthy sleeping schedule, while those of you Americans and Europeans will finally have to suffer. 

Here are the converted time zones for when ESL One Bangkok matches begin:

ESL will be running three streams at a time for the Group Stages – one on the main stream and two on its secondary streams. 

Here are all the links you need to watch the matches:

Twitch:

• ESL_DOTA2
• ESL_Dota2Storm
• ESL_Dota2Ember

YouTube (Multiple streams on the same channel):

• ESL Dota 2

Many live streamers will also host watch parties on their respective channels, so you can also watch matches through there! You will probably catch me on the Gorgc steam. 

Group Stage Match Schedules

As usual, ESL One Bangkok will kick off with a Group Stage that will run for three days. The first two days will feature three sets of Best of 2s, while the final day features two sets with an allocated time slot for tiebreakers if needed.

Here is how the Group Stage schedule is shaping up:

Day 1:

• Group A Teams: 12:00 – 14:00
• Group A Teams: 14:30 – 16:30
• Group B Teams: 17:15 – 19:15
• Group B Teams: 19:45 – 21:45

Day 2:

• Group A Teams: 12:00 – 14:00
• Group A Teams: 14:30 – 16:30
• Group B Teams: 17:15 – 19:15
• Group B Teams: 19:45 – 21:45

Day 3: 

• Group A Teams: 12:00 – 14:00
• Group B Teams: 14:30 – 16:30
• Tiebreakers (If needed): 17:15 – 19:15

Note that all of these matches are listed in the Bangkok time zone. 

Tournament Format

Image credit: ESL One

ESL One Bangkok will run like your typical Dota 2 event. Here is how the million-dollar event is formatted.

Group Stage

The Group Stage of ESL One Bangkok will run from December 9 to 11. 

• 12 participants are divided into two groups of six.
• All matches will be played in Best of 2 format.
• The top two teams will secure their spots in the Upper Bracket.
• The 3rd and 4th place teams will make it to the Lower Bracket. 
• The bottom two teams will be eliminated from the event.

This format means four teams will immediately be sent home after the Group Stage and will not play in front of the Bangkok crowd. 

Playoffs

The Playoffs stage of ESL One Bangkok will run from December 13 to 15. 

• The Playoffs will follow a double-elimination bracket. 
• All matches except the Grand Final are played in Best of 3, with the Grand Final being played in Best of 5 format.

We had a taste of a different “King of the Hill” format at BLAST Slam I, but we’re back to the usual way Dota 2 tournaments are played with this double-elimination bracket. 

How Are Groups Divided?

As mentioned earlier, we will see the participants split into two groups of six. Refer to the table below to see how the 12 teams have been divided:

Teams To Look Out For

We’ve seen the likes of Falcons, Tundra, Liquid, Spirit, and BetBoom play throughout the past few months, so I’d like to name a few new teams I’m very intrigued in seeing perform. 

Gaozu

By far, the biggest question mark coming into Bangkok is the Gaozu Team, which consists of household names in the Chinese region, including Ame, Paparazi, and XinQ. We only saw them play in one event, which was the qualifiers for this exact tournament, in which they took down the new Xtreme Gaming in the Grand Final.

After a brutal 5-game Grand Final, #Gaozu have secured their place at #ESLOne Bangkok! 🙌#RoadToEWC pic.twitter.com/22M70s3ofe

— ESL Dota2 (@ESLDota2) November 17, 2024

Considering how well Xtreme Gaming did at BLAST Slam I, finishing in 3rd – 4th, I imagine the Gaozu Team is either at a similar level or superior to their former squad, so I’m super stoked to see that Ame and the crew can bring into the table. Paparazi back on LAN is the biggest thing I’m looking at here. 

Natus Vincere

The PuckChamp roster that dominated the Eastern European qualifiers for this tournament was picked up by one of the largest names in esports – NAVI. The top three EEU teams, PARIVISION, BetBoom, and Spirit, all received direct invitations, so there was quite a drought in the qualifiers for the region.

However, the NAVI boys absolutely stomped the tournament, taking down the likes of Virtus.Pro and 1win without dropping a map on the final day. I’m interested to see how this squad competes against the best in the world.