| Description: | ViCi's venture into ONE Esports World Pro Invitational playoffs started on Friday, December 20, when they met with TNC Predator in round one of the lower bracket where the Chinese roster impressed and reverse-swept ESL One Hamburg 2019 and MDL Chengdu Major champions to punch a ticket for round two. While an impressive display from ViCi, their toughest test came on Saturday, when they met with one of the strongest teams in the Dota 2 competitive scene - Team Secret.
ViCi Gaming vs Team Secret
The matchup between ViCi and Team Secret was a heavily anticipated brawl and it did not fail to live up to the expectations as the two teams produced one of the most exciting fixtures of the tournament. The Chinese juggernauts and the European powerhouse went back and forth in a series which ended up going the distance, yet it was ViCi who delivered and won 2-1.
Team Secret got off to a flying start in game one thanks to Lasse “MATUMBAMAN” Urpalainen who helped his team secure a small lead, which made it seem like Team Secret are well on their way of securing the first map of the series. That, however, proved to be a much tougher task than what the Europeans lead us to believe.
ViCi Gaming retaliated and with the help of Zhang “Eurus” Chengjun and Zeng “Ori” Jiaoyang managed to close the gap and turned the game around. By the time the mid-late game came around, ViCi were already holding to a substantial lead, which they used to snowball to their first win of the series.
After a poor display in game one, where he made one too many mistakes, MATUMBAMAN decided to redeem himself and took ViCi by surprise with his Diffusal Blade build on Morphling to counter the Chinese mana heavy draft. As the game went on, it became obvious Team Secret out-drafted ViCi, who had no answer for the European pressure, as they stood and watched their buildings crumble to dust one after another.
Team Secret were in a lead since the 20-minute mark, yet they needed slightly over 41 minutes to tie the series 1-1. Team Secret were the dominant side throughout the match, which gave some much-needed morale boost as they ventured off into the final match of the series.
Confidence is without a doubt a strong weapon to have, yet it can also backfire badly, and Team Secret were the prime example of that. Fans were expecting another exciting, closely fought match, and while it was an exciting one, it was anything but close. |
