posted by Smyke,
Team Secret had an increcible run! Since the second round of the Lower Bracket at ESL One Hamburg 2018 Puppey's team didn't lose a series - they had a 9-0 run before the Grand Finals. Virtus.pro wanted to stop them and win The Kuala Lumpur Major. However, before Virtus.pro could join Team Secret in the Grand Finals they had to play against Evil Geniuses after losing the Upper Bracket Finals against Secret the day before.



The North Americans had a tough series against Ninjas in Pyjamas in their bones. The fight against Peter 'ppd' Dager was most probably the best series of The Kuala Lumpur Major up to this point.

While fans expected another epic and close match up, Virtus.pro proved why they are still one step ahead of Evil Geniuses. The Dota 2 Pro Circuit winners of the last season won two games pretty convincingly and 2-0'd Artour 'Arteezy' Babaev and his team. It ended up to be just another third place at a Major for the Canadian carry.



Here are the highlights of the Lower Bracket Finals:



RodjER's Black Hole destroys Team Secret



The first game of the Grand Finals was even in the first 20 minutes. Both teams had their moments until Clement 'Puppey' Ivanov and Yeik Nai 'MidOne' Zheng played the almost lost team fight perfectly and turned it on Virtus.pro. They almost team wiped Virtus.pro.



Only RodjER's Enigma survived — and he was the one to make the difference. The CIS squad had an aggressive lineup and was soon able for the first high ground attempt. This was the moment when RodjER unleashed his inner beast and destroyed Secret with his Black Hole's.



Virtus.pro demonstrated again that they can keep up with the best team in the world. Aleksey 'Solo' Berezin and his teammates are the only squad to win games against Secret at the Major.




RodjER does it again, but it's not enough



The panel was not convinced in VP's draft for the second game, because of Secret's Broodmother last pick. Yeik Nai 'MidOne' Zheng demonstrated early on that Team Secret should win this series easily — and everything went according to the plan.

Broodmother got the farm he needed and it felt like Secret is only one team fight away from winning this game. However, it was again RodjER who clearly made himself a name on this Enigma for this series.



Another perfect Black Hole by the Russian support and VP was back in the series - at least for a moment. Virtus.pro was looking for another team fight to utilize Enigma again.



For a second it really looked like VP can win this team fight, but MidOne buybacked perfectly to turn the team fight and kill four VP players. The Broodmother was too strong now and VP's hopes shattered.

You can't kill MidOne on Zeus



Both teams had a decent draft for the third game of the series and they demonstrated it in the early game. However, one perfect fight and Team Secret got the lead.



The team wipe brought the gold swing in favor for Team Secret. Even a good team fight by Virtus.pro didn't help them win the game in the end. Team Secret won game three and was only one game away from being victorious in the whole event without a single loss.



Can they defeat Nisha's Morphling?



The draft revealed that Secret wasn't up for funny games anymore. They picked a Morphling for Nisha — the 18-year-old carry won his last twelve games on this hero. However, it's not the first time VP stopped a run of Secret at this tournament. Meanwhile, Yazied 'YapzOr' Jaradat underlined why he's a top-notch Earth Spirit player.



The European squad had the lead in the early game, but as soon Roman 'RAMZEs' Kushnarev got fed enough on this Terrorblade VP was searching for team fights.



Team Secret tried to turn the game several times and the Monkey King in combination with the Morphling did a good job. However, the Terrorblade got stronger and stronger in the late game and Secret couldn't stop him anymore.



Who can take the crown?



VP and Secret had to fight it off in the last match to decide who'll be the first Major champion of the season. The focus was on both the carry players now: Nisha played Phantom Lancer while RAMZES666 was aiming for another world-class performance on Terrorblade.

Virtus.pro tried to separate the Secret players, but YapzOr with the perfect Echo Slam destroyed VP's early game advantage.



Meanwhile, VP made another mistake: they gave Nisha enough time to farm and get an important gold advantage on PL. However, Terrorblade and Dragon Knight were keeping up with Nisha and made it difficult for Puppey's team to hold them back. Secret had to win more team fights to turn the game and win the Major.



Team Secret couldn't hold VP back and the Russians pushed for high ground to get the Mega Creeps. In the end Virtus.pro starts the season same as last year: they win the first Major of the season!

What was your favorite moment of the Major?



Photo credit: Twitch - PGL

Comments