posted by Supafida,
Starladder XII Day Two is here! The heat is on as The Alliance snipe Team Secret's place in the next round with a clean 2-0, forcing them out of the tournament. The talk of the town was the rampage by Pajkatt on a certain Dwarven marksman, and Secret's early exit has altered the expected narrative of the competition and definitely sparked the interest of viewers. Read on to catch the recap if you missed the action!
Getting ready for the game - Picture courtesy of @TeamSecretDOTA2


Starladder XLL Day Two has begun! Teams will fight to stay alive in the tournament, with the hopes of securing a TI direct invite. Read on as we report highlights of the day.

The opening match was between se Alliance and eu Team Secret, both looking determined as defeat means going home. Alliance, although looking back on form lately, needed some concrete results while Secret also had to prove that they are indeed a formidable force in the scene. In a previous poll, Secret also got the most votes to win the tournament. With TI invites on the horizon, the stakes were extremely high.

Alliance opened game 1 with a very strong defensive deathball lineup while Secret opted for a more farm-heavy, pickoff-oriented lineup. Alliance managed to secure the early farm and wisely pressed their advantage, grouping up as 5 and taking down towers with ease. Secret put up a valiant effort, defending their base with multiple buybacks but were unable to resist the durable lineup. The Swedes closed game 1 after quickly decimating Team Secret's members with the farm advantage.





Game 2 was a lot more even as Secret drafted a much stronger lineup. A brilliant double stomp by se Jonathan 'Loda' Berg near the Rosh pit at 20 minutes resulted in a disastrous fight for Secret, as they lost 6 lives (Axe bought back and died) and se Per Anders 'Pajkatt' Olsson L. collected a Rampage! The next 20 minutes saw Secret throwing their bodies at Alliance and using multiple buybacks to defend, but to no avail as barracks kept falling. A last fight in the Radiant jungle saw fr Sebastien 'Ceb' Debs's Night Stalker cancelled ee Clement 'Puppey' Ivanov Bane’s Grip on Centaur and Alliance teamwiped Secret, forcing a GG.

With this loss, Secret headed for an early exit from the tournament, which may be shocking to fans with their star-studded lineup. On the other hand, Alliance made their way further into the lower bracket with this clean 2-0 and will face the loser of the matchup VG versus C9.




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