Team Secret Starts The TI Qualifiers With a Banger

The International 2023 Qualifiers for Western Europe has officially kicked off. Team Secret up against OG was one of the most anticipated matches of the region’s qualifiers. OG had mixed results throughout the regular 2022-2023 DPC Season. However, Team Secret struggled to maintain its position as the top team in the region and got relegated despite finishing at the runner-up spot in the previous TI. The series got everyone off their feet, as Team Secret played methodically and took the clean sweep against their rivals. Here’s a quick recap of what happened.

Game 1 

In game 1, OG went with a snowball-type draft consisting of midlane Pangolier and offlane Doom to back their safelane Phantom Assasin. On the other hand, Team Secret went with a farm-oriented draft consisting of offlane Brewmaster, mid-lane Queen Of Pain and a safelane Phantom Assasin.

During the laning stage, OG prioritise Secret’s midlane, ruining QoP’s tempo. Moreover, they also won the offlane, kicking Team Secret’s safelaner out of the lane. However, Phantom Assasin took available farms across the map despite OG trying ways to take him off the game. As they hit their item timing, OG quickly collapsed on Secret and took two lanes of barracks. Team Secret was a fight away from losing the game, but they held on as their safelaner became massive. A favourable skirmish at 37 minutes gave Phantom Assasin a chance to purchase a Divine Rapier.

As it was the only option left to come back, PA took it despite being extremely risky. The team also played around PA, bailing her out of dire situations. At  57 minutes, a team fight around Radiant’s Tormentor allowed Team Secret to take down the lead OG built in the game. In the end, the Rapier purchase paid dividends as it not only allowed Secret to get back into the game but also allowed them to take the game at 63 minutes.

Game 2

OG came into game 2 with a vengeance. They dominated the laning stage. With Sven safelane and a midlane Death Prophet, OG started to snowball from their laning advantage. However, Secret was patient and methodical. They waited until their cores Templer Assasin and Ursa hit the item timings and started forcing OG to respond. The team then took objectives. OG had no answer for Secret’s core duo. Eventually, at 34 minutes, OG tapped out from the game, giving the series.

Moving Forward

OG’s back is up against the wall as they are now in the lower bracket. Team Secret is in the Upper Bracket Finals and will face Entity in their next series.

Featured Image Source: Twitter/@teamsecret