posted by Malystryx.GDS,
A highly anticipated match-up and it did not disappoint. Team Secret versus Evil Geniuses was quite a ride, and Arteezy made sure the final game was unforgettable.
A 2-0 victory over Fnatic secured Evil Geniuses an encounter with Secret in the semis (Image: @StarGame_US)


Evil Geniuses versus Team Secret was the upper-bracket semi-final, and the victor would be certain of a top 3 finish. Team Secret came in to the match off the back off a solid victory against the Frankfurt Major winners OG, while Evil Geniuses had a more comfortable outing versus Int Fnatic. This was to be one of the most anticipated encounters of the Shanghai Major so far.

However, Secret opened with a disadvantage, a level 3 draft penalty resulting in no reserve time for their opening game. The penalty was a punishment for w33haa's preemptive "gg" call when Secret were destroying OG's final buildings in the previous round, but it did not have a big impact on the draft or the result of the first game.

Game 1: W33haa's Earth Spirit starts slowly but Evil Geniuses drop the ball
Earth Spirit was let through and EG opted to Ban out Outworld Devourer instead. Secret ran Drow Ranger/Outworld Devourer sucessfully in their match against oG, and by the end of the draft both had been banned by Evil Geniuses. Earth Spirit was Secret's first-pick, a hero ro Omar 'w33haa' Aliwi has been playing in the mid lane.

Overall a fairly predictable draft, with EG's last pick Doom for Fear the only major surprise. Secret's draft include a ee Clement 'Puppey' Ivanov Enigma, and considering their first bans were Mirana and Bounty Hunter, heroes that can easily capitalise on a hero missing from the lane, it's probable Secret knew they would pick Enigma once again.

Arteezy's cheeky TP out
The early game was not great for Secret and w33haa did not make the impact he needed to. He was 6th on the networth chart at the 10 minute mark and with ca Jacky 'EternaLEnVy' Mao struggling as Spectre up against EG's Doom and Dark Seer, Evil Geniuses had the early game.

Secret went for a play at 12 minutes to try to take out Arteezy's Sven, but a cheeky little teleport by the EG carry and a swap by PPD to save another team-mate caught in Puppey's Blackhole, allowed Evil Geniuses to come out with 2 kills. This lead to Roshan and Secret were not where they needed to be.

THeir best fight came at 20 minutes when Evil Geniuses decided to fight without Doom or Lasso in the mid-lane. us Saahil 'Universe' Arora pulled off a 4-man vacuum into Wall of Replicas in the river but with Puppey's mekansm counter-acted the damage and Secret gave Evil Geniuses a beating, killing four of their team while all of Secret survived.

The great fight for Secret at 20 mins had a huge impact on their networth


A messy fight by Evil Geniuses sees another 4 deaths
A failed Puppey hunt by ppd
It was a costly mistake for Evil Geniuses, and six minutes later they were baited beautifully by Team Secret in the Radiant jungle.

Secret had the jungle warded and as Evil Geniuses looked for kills after defending their bottom tier 2 tower, Puppey and his team-mates lay in wait for them.

Secret's vision was crucial in the fight. pk Sumail 'SumaiL' Syed Hassan's Blink in on Bat Rider near the river proved fatal and Secret's se Johan 'pieliedie' Åström and EternalEnvy took him out almost instantly. A questionable Swap by us Peter 'ppd' Dager followed.

The Evil Geniuses captain swapped with Arteezy's Sven in the hope of successfully taking out Puppey's Enigma that he was pursueing but instead Puppey survived and the rest of the team were left in an awkward position.

W33haa who had a rough early game was starting to find his feet, and Secret now had four of the top five slots in the networth chart. The rest of the game was comfortable for Secret, who had superior vision thanks to se Johan 'pieliedie' Åström, and the Secret support blinked in to burst down Sumail's Bat Rider on more than one occasion.

Overall a well-deserved victory for Secret, who won the game off the back off two extremely important team fights in the mid game. It was not the best of games for Sumail on Bat Rider, and overall not the smooth execution we're used to seeing from Evil Geniuses, but in typical EG fashion they got back on their bike for the second game.

Evil Geniuses second painful fight of the opening game


Game 2: SumaiL starts the game with a lovely piece of skill
The first blood of game 2 was an entertaining one. Viewers watched as three Secret players chased Sumail's Death Prophet half way across the map. The Evil Geniuses player puledd off a beautiful piece of skill by tricking Secret into thinking he was going for a Roshan deny but changed direction at the last minute and as a result W33haa misses his stun and rolls onto the cliff next to Roshan.

Lovely piece of skill by SumaiL to dodge W33haa's stun


Evil Geniuses are known for being able to bounce back from defeat and their strat in game 2 was executed almost flawlessly to win the game in just 23 minutes. us Saahil 'Universe' Arora's Dark Seer played a big role in their victory and Evil Geniuses were about all-out aggression from the six minute mark. Secret lacked disables, and with Arteezy's Lycan and SumaiL's Death Prophet whizzing around, they were helpless. The strong showing forced a third and final game.

Pugna for SumaiL vs W33haa on Invoker. Fair match-up?

In Game 3 Evil Geniuses made a peculiar decision to draft SumaiL a Pugna. SumaiL had never played the hero before in competition, and found himself up against W33haa on his signature hero Invoker. Unsurprisingly SumaiL struggled and suffered three deaths in the first 10 minutes.

Evil Geniuses as a team were on the backfoot for a good 20 minutes, and se Johan 'pieliedie' Åström's Lion continued to dance circles around them. With Arteezy's Sven coming online in the mid game, the game started to open up. Ppd and Universe managed to take out a good few Secret players with Vacuum and Death Ward, but with SumaiL unable to make an impact a lot of responsibility was placed on Arteezy's shoulders.

Arteezy and Evil Geniuses gamble does not pay off
Arteezy falls and drops 2 rapiers
As the game went late he went for a Divine Rapier, only the second on Sven in 6.86 according to the in-game stats. It gave Evil Geniuses the upper hand and a gank on Arteezy at 50 minutes failed and allowed his team to hold off Secret's push on their tier 4's.

At 55 minutes Arteezy added a second Rapier and his team charged down the mid lane with Secret already spawning mega creeps. It was a last stand for Evil Geniuses and Arteezy charged past Secret's barracks to go for their tier 4 tower. It was perhaps a step too far as he was surrounded by Sprout and Secret unleashed a flurry of spells.

W33haa Meteor about to kill Arteezy's Sven who was carrying TWO Divine Rapiers




Arteezy fell as did his team-mates, the "gg" call came shortly after - from EG not w33haa obviously. The bo3 series between Secret and Evil Geniuses was an extremely entertaining one, and both teams had a chance to show their strengths. Ultimately Secret were the victors, and the viewers enjoyed the spectacle. Secret now progress to top 3, while Evil Geniuses join MVP Phoenix in the lower-bracket.

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    Malystryx.GDS

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