November 18 will be the final standoff of the lower bracket and the grand finals. The Kuala Lumpur Major takes place in the capital of Malaysia from 9 to 18 November. Participants are playing for a million dollars and 15 thousand points of Dota Pro Circuit. The grand finals series will be played in the best of five format.
The reason we have picked this match for you is that it is the grand finale of the first major Dota 2 competition. Both teams fully deserve their spot in the final. However, Secret is just one step ahead of the competition and we will comprehensively explain to you why they are the favorites to lift their second trophy in two months.
Team Secret
Team Secret has made its way to the grand finals of Kuala Lumpur Major after beating down Virtus.Pro in a crucial series. Just a few weeks ago, they won ESL One Hamburg. It was the first major tournament of the season of Dota 2, despite the competition was not included the official competitive circuit points implemented by Valve for 2018/2019. This six-day event served as the first contest between the 12 participating teams, where Team Secret was proclaimed champion after an impeccable group stage and playoffs. Now the team has made it to the final after dropping just one game in the entire tournament. Let’s see what are the key elements of this exceptional form.
The new additions
For starters, Team Secret has started the season with new additions. After the Post-TI8 Shuffle, Marcus “Ace” Hoelgaard and Adrian “Fata” Trinks, carry Michal “Nisha” Jankowski and offlane and Ludwig “Zai” Wahlberg respectively, arrived to compete for Secret.
The changes always bring a breath of air to the team and more with a young promise of 18 years as is “Nisha” who has shown a great level of confidence in his initial competitive events of such magnitude. The same goes with “Zai” who returns to Team Secret after his comings and goings in Evil Geniuses and in the competitive scene to finish his studies.
The Captain’s experiments
Clement “Puppey” Ivanov is one of the brightest players in the competitive scene of Dota 2. He has been playing professionally since 2007 in the role of jungle/support and was proclaimed world champion in the first edition of The International, in addition, to be a runner-up in the following two.
Since then he has not stopped to reap success, in Natus Vincere and later in Team Secret, a team created by himself. He has never been afraid to experiment and try new things, even in important games. Example of this has been this ESL One Hamburg and Kuala Lumpur where we have seen him play support with Axe, Brewmaster, and Legion Commander, heroes who usually occupy another role.
In fact, there are memes about ESL tournament that have been called Experimental Supports League because of the heroes that have played in the support position without being the most usual. Teams such as Pain Gaming and Vici Gaming picked Ursa and Weaver as supports, including Virtus Pro, leaving Sven in the hands of Rodjer, on two occasions.
The selection of items
Dota 2 is a game with an incredible variety of possibilities, which is why the selection of heroes, their positioning in the lanes and the choice of items will change each situation. One Thing Team Secret has shown especially in these tournaments that the decisions made by “Puppey” in the draft have been exceptional. He has been successful in his drafts with multiple heroes and has been on point with the purchase of items in the game.
Throughout the tournaments, they have prioritized buying items for the team, such as Pipe of Insight, Crimson Guard, Guardian’s Greaves or Lotus Orb, among others, in order to hold or protect the carry and the environment to win the game.
In the two games of the grand finals of ESL One Hamburg, Nisha bought the Rapier with Terrorblade and another where he went for Aghanim Scepter on his core Weaver. It is something not very common in a core build. But since his ultimate was used to save allies, It worked like a charm to save Phantom Lancer from the Chronosphere in the game against Virtus Pro. Moreover, In the last match in Kuala Lumpur Secret made a wise choice in their picks and items. They completely shut down Earthshaker and made the win easy for Ember and Arc Warden. MidOne on Ember Spirit made a hybrid build of physical and magical damage which proved clinical for the team.
Virtus.Pro/Evil Geniuses
VP/EG has made its way after an incredible run in the competition. The team had a very tough campaign since the side had its fair share of defeats in the competition. However, one thing is for sure; the team will have to play the best game of its life against Secret. The side of VP/EG has its fair share of weaknesses which can be easily exploited by Secret. It cannot be underestimated that VP/EG have completely deserved their place in the final. But Secret is quite phenomenal at the moment. They are just too good. They can get away with anything no matter which items or draft they pick. They can counter anyone and can wreak havoc for their opponents across the map.
Nisha and MidOne have displayed impressive performances. Nisha has the most impressive KDA in the competition. While MidOne was the MVP of ESL Hamburg. They will be planning to lift another trophy to continue their dominance in the DPC.
Final Verdict
Team Secret 3 – 1 VP/EG
Odds to be announced after Virtus.Pro vs Evil Geniuses Series.
Shehryar is a professional eSports analyst with a particular affinity for CS:GO, LoL, and DOTA. He covers major eSports events across the world for WagerBop.
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