Vikin.gg scores big upset over Team Secret at ESL One Los Angeles

Nina Forneloza Published 18/04/2020

Vikin.gg eliminated ESL One Los Angeles favorite Team Secret in a clean 2-0 sweep.

Vikin.gg dominated Team Secret in a do-or-die series in the lower bracket. The team pulled off a huge upset in the Europe and CIS regional league.

Team Secret had an impressive run in the group stage, advancing to upper bracket with an undefeated record. However, two-time The International champions OG knocked them down to the lower bracket with a 2-0 victory.

Vikin.gg got an upset win over Alliance and advanced in the lower bracket. The team found itself pitted against Team Secret, a team that was expected to claim the tournament title, in what casters regarded as a “David versus Goliath” matchup.

Thanks to a huge performance from Miroslav “BOOM” Bičan’s Queen of Pain, Vikin.gg came out on top and pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the season.

Team Secret had an unusal draft in opening against Vikin.gg

Team Secret kicked off the series with an unusual draft. Clement “Puppey” Ivanov opted for a Riki-Grimstroke duo safe lane. Michał “Nisha” Jankowski played Nature’s Prophet mid while Ludwig “zai” Wåhlberg was put on Dark Seer.

Vikin.gg drafted BOOM’s signature hero, Queen of Pain, and the lineup was completed with Spectre, Mars, Snapfire, and Rubick. The team created chaos around the map and Team Secret missed several defensive opportunities.

BOOM showed up in every team fight and Team Secret had no answers. Vikin.gg’s aggressive play let them run rampant over Team Secret en route to a 24-kill deficit.

Team Secret executed zai’s Vacuum-Wall combo on top of Lasse Aukusti “MATUMBAMAN” Urpalainen’s Tricks of Trade but Vikin.gg was having none of it. Indji “Shad” Lub’s Spectre came online and the game was over.

BOOM led his team with another stellar performance

The second game saw Team Secret return to a classic hero lineup. MATUMBAMAN played hard carry Medusa while Nisha played Monkey King. However, the team’s first mistake was to let Vikin.gg draft Queen of Pain. Vikin.gg once again snatched up its mid laner’s favorite hero, while captain Melchior “Seleri” Hillenkamp played Snapfire and drafted Lycan for Shad.

Team Secret played aggressively in the early game and tried to delay the opponent’s power spike timings. The team managed to hold its net worth advantage until 22 minutes.

Vikin.gg smoke ganked and found MATUMBAMAN in the jungle. He was a perfect pick off for Vikin.gg to even the net worth. Team Secret tried to protect him but the team fight was a complete disaster.

Vikin.gg continued to outplay Team Secret, suckering them with a Double Damage rune. Team Secret decided to retreat but BOOM jumped into a perfect position and killed the two supports instantly. Yazied “YapzOr” Jarada and Puppey had no buybacks and watched their team try to escape the bloodbath.

However, Vikin.gg did not let its enemies flee. The team killed MATUMBAMAN’s Medusa, who had a Divine Rapier. This was the deathstroke for Team Secret, which ended their run at the event. Vikin.gg will continue on to face Chicken Fighters for a spot in the lower bracket finals.

Nina Forneloza

About Nina Forneloza

Nina Forneloza is a huge fan of gaming, but her favorite genres of games above all other are gacha games, first-person shooting games, and role-playing games. When she isn’t looking for a lucky pull in the latest gacha, you’re likely to find her in a competitive Valorant lobby or playing the latest big single-player RPG. Either way, you can be assured that she’ll be into it and ready to write about the experience.

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