Team Secret has been a dominant force in the 2018-19 Dota 2 pro scene, and that success was carried into today as they finished an impressive run through ESL One Katowice.
Secret had a 9-1 record coming out of the group stage, losing only a single game to OG as they claimed the top seed heading into the playoffs.
That top seeding placed them in a matchup against Ninjas in Pyjamas, followed by a rematch against Gambit Esports. Both of those series ended in 2-0 sweeps in favor of Secret.
After dropping down into the lower bracket, Gambit faced off against the red-hot OG in the lower bracket finals. That ended the same way as the past several meetings between the two teams—OG suffered a 2-0 loss and watched Gambit move on. It was an extremely competitive set, but Gambit were able to pull away each time.
That led into the third meeting between Secret and Gambit in this tournament. Secret had previously bested Gambit 2-0 in their Group A matchup and the aforementioned upper bracket finals.
With a total record of 4-0 against Gambit in this event alone, Secret went into the grand finals looking calm and steady.
While Secret initially seemed composed, Gambit looked hungry for a win. They played a hyper-aggressive style that forced Secret to adapt or risk falling behind. It didn’t work out for Gambit, though, as Secret recovered and started countering the dives coming their way.
With a 1-0 lead, Secret pulled out some older tricks to make things run a little smoother. They forced the game into a much slower pace and executed on Clement “Puppey” Ivanov’s calls expertly.
They ended up dropping a lot of lives in the mid-game, but that didn’t hinder their strategy as they went up 2-0 in the best-of-five.
Gambit fought hard within the tournament-clinching game, but even after pressuring Secret’s sloppy mid-match play, they couldn’t make anything out of it. Secret pulled off yet another sweep of Gambit, improving their overall tournament record to a stellar 17-1.
After the match, Ludwig “zai” Wåhlberg was named the Mercedes-Benz MVP of the event and was presented with both a trophy and the keys to a new car.
With this victory to claim the ESL One Katowice crown, Team Secret push themselves further in the global Dota 2 power rankings as both second-place Virtus Pro and third-ranked Evil Geniuses lost at MDL Macau 2019.
Secret and several other teams from ESL One Katowice will next compete in the DreamLeague Season 11 Stockholm Major from March 14 to 24. There, 16 teams will battle for their share of $1 million and 15,000 Dota Pro Circuit points.
Published: Feb 24, 2019 05:45 pm