For one of the first times this season, Team Secret dropped a series in the middle of a big tournament, allowing OG to capture a spot in The International 2019.
OG has been playing the entire tournament thus far without their captain, Johan “N0tail” Sundstein, due to some lingering health issues, but that didn’t seem to matter much against Secret.
With their coach, Titouan “Sockshka” Merloz, filling in for N0tail once more, OG proceeded to blow open the matchup in the opening game of the second round. It was a 27-minute run carried by Anathan “ana” Pham’s Slark and Sébastien “7ckngMad” Debs’ Dark Seer.
Secret kept things close, but OG just looked solid all around as they pushed lanes. Down 1-0, the favorites to win their third Major, were on the verge of an early elimination.
Game two was a lot more competitive than the stats would lead you to believe. On paper, Secret was beaten badly at a 37-15 kill disadvantage, but they were very competitive in team fights. OG really only pulled away toward the back half of the match as they cleaned up towers and moved in to strike the Aegis.
Michał “Nisha” Jankowski had a monster game on Templar Assassin for Secret, racking up 40,901 hero damage as his team tried to fend off defeat. Unfortunately, OG were able to continuously keep Ludwig “zai” Wåhlberg out of the game, killing him 11 times and leaving Secret shorthanded in a lot of the endgame fights.
OG ended up taking the 2-0 sweep, eliminating the top-ranked team in the world and claiming their spot in the top 12 of the Dota Pro Circuit. This guarantees them a spot at TI9, where they will defend the title they won last year at TI8.
They will play LGD Gaming in yet another rematch of the TI8 Grand Finals to see who will move on into the next round of the lower bracket. That series will begin at 4am CT on June 28 and OG hopes to have their captain back for that matchup.
