The top seed of the Dota Pro Circuit rankings has been eliminated by the reigning TI8 Champions.
Team Secret’s dominance during the group stage did not translate to a good run in the playoffs. After Team Secret was bumped off from the upper bracket by Virtus.pro, the team suffered another disappointing series in the lower bracket.
In an elimination series, Team Secret fought for its tournament life against TI8 champions OG. After OG’s upset game with Evil Geniuses, the team’s winning streak continued as OG knocked off Team Secret from the Epicenter Major.
Huge thanks are due to Anathan “ana” Pham, who stepped up his game and carried the team to victory. The absence of captain Johan “N0tail” Sundstein due to health reasons would otherwise have put the team at a disadvantage, but ana carried OG and defied all odds. Coach Titouan “Sockshka” Merloz has proven to be a valuable team player even when targeted by his opponents.
The first game heavily favored OG as ana’s Slark stomped Team Secret. OG’s aggressive play did not let Secret carry MichaĹ‚ “Nisha” Jankowski’s Sven bounce back. The game ended shortly after 27 minutes.
The second game was an absolute bloodbath. Once again, ana put on a stellar performance, one that translated to a final stat line of 17/0/23. Topias “Topson” Taavitsainen’s Tiny greatly help the team to control the game’s tempo.
The net worth consistently favored OG as the game progressed, and Team Secret never really found its footing. The game eventually spun entirely out of Secret’s control, and Team Secret tapped out of the tournament.
With two major championship titles on their resume this season, Team Secret is currently the top team in Dota Pro Circuit rankings. The squad is more than 2,000 points ahead of Russian team Virtus.pro.
However, Virtus.pro is now waiting in the round four of the lower bracket. If the team were to win the Epicenter Major, Virtus.pro would be the new top seed in the Dota Pro Circuit rankings. Ranking second from the tournament will draw even the numbers between Team Secret and Virtus.pro.
OG will be playing another elimination series against PSG.LGD on June 28. Â
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