Team Secret defeat Old G and get ready for Division I

It seems that Dota 2 is a lot harder than it seems. At the start of this season, Sebastien “Ceb” Debs decided to try one more time to reach Division I and maybe even play at a Valve Major. But his plans were quickly ruined. First by a failure to qualify for Division II and now by a failure to perform well in this division.

The match between Team Secret and Old G was very interesting to watch. Both competitors knew each other well because their rosters are full of veterans who have met each other in S-tier tournaments many times. On this occasion, the strategic battle between Ceb and Clement “Puppey” Ivanov was won by the latter.

How Secret won the battle

In game 1, the two teams were almost perfectly equal until around minute 20. That’s when the big team fights began and it quickly became obvious that Secret had the better draft.

For those who are familiar with the meta, Secret’s victory was predictable. They had Death Prophet, Terrorblade, Pangolier, and a Rubick, against a set of heroes that simply cannot team fight five versus five. Legion Commander, Monkey King, and Io love to find pickoffs and control the map. But Puppey knew how to play against them.

In game 2, Secret gained an advantage during the laning phase and then never gave it up. Things went from bad to worse for Old G and once again, Puppey won the draft. His decision to pick Death Prophet, Ursa, and Mirana proved to be a clever one because it gave his team superior initiation.

Old G tried to be the ones to initiate favorable fights with Doom and Earthshaker, but the plan failed almost from the start. It still took Secret 46 minutes to end the game, but their victory was inevitable after the 25-minute mark.

What this result means for the teams

For Secret, this victory gives them the opportunity to return to Division I. Their promotion is not 100% guaranteed yet, but it seems extremely likely.

For Old G, the defeat leaves them with just two victories in their first six matches. They will play Alliance in their final match of the league and they need to win if they want to avoid an unpleasant tiebreaker. In fact, if they lose, they might even get relegated right away.

Header: Team Secret