Virtus makes their second DPC Finals at The Chongqing Major

Things got extremely competitive when Virtus Pro and Team Secret met in the upper bracket finals of The Chongqing Major.

The two teams met in the same round back at the first Major of the 2018-19 Dota Pro Circuit, The Kuala Lumpur Major. And what followed was an epic battle that would later be rematched in the grand finals of the same event.

But this was a new Major, and Team Secret set out early to show they weren’t going to let history repeat itself.

The two top teams in DPC rankings clashed early and often in game one, with drafts built towards offense. Clement ‘Puppey’ Ivanov and his team essentially continued to throw themselves at whatever defense Virtus could put up until they broke down the wall.

The extremely forward approach worked for Secret as they took the win in a tight game one. No momentum would carry over into the next game, however, as the CIS powerhouse plowed through Secret’s defenses after about the 20-minute mark, tying things up at 1-1.

Game three was about what everyone expected, a fast-paced brawl that had both teams fighting regardless of who was in the lead.

Virtus managed to pull away somewhere in the midst of the brawl, but that didn’t stop Secret from playing to their strengths. Despite their tenacity, Roman “RAMZES” Kushnarev was on fire throughout the second game and led his team to a decisive 2-1 series victory.

With their win, Virtus will now wait out the rest of the competition to see if they will again face Secret once more, or if one of the other teams remaining in the lower bracket will rise up.

The next series will see EHOME and Evil Geniuses face off Jan. 25 at 10pm CT.