Putting up a dominant performance in the first European qualifiers for the Dota Pit Season 5's LAN finals, Secret is the first team to qualify for the event.
From the 20th to 22nd of January next year, Secret will be joining direct invites Wings and DC, as well as five other qualified teams at the Dota Pit Season 5's LAN finals taking place in Split, Croatia. The LAN event, which will be held at the Spaladium Arena, will feature eight teams from around the world battling for a base prize pool of $125,000.
Secret's victory marks the conclusion of the first European qualifier for the Dota Pit season 5. In the weeks following this victory, the winners of the SEA, CIS, NA, China, and second European qualifiers will be decided.
Despite losing to Liquid 0-2 in the winners bracket's first round, FlipSid3 was able to survive and managed to upset Liquid with a 2-1 score in their lower bracket finals rematch. Riding this momentum, Flipsid3 entered game one against Secret with a fast paced draft featuring a support Warlock, which allowed the Russians to crush Secret in team fights, easily closing the game in 24 minutes.
Secret pulled it back in the following three games. In game two, Secret defended their towers against the enemy's Terrorblade to great success, their Invoker free farmed, and they snowballed out of Flipsid3’s control. Yeik 'MidOne' Nai Zheng ended the game with 752 GPM, 689 XPM, and a 16/3/17 KDA on his Invoker.
In game three, Flipsid3 did not have an answer to Secret's team fight and was stomped in 27 minutes. In game four, Flipsid3 and Secret traded tower for tower and gank for gank. Although Flipsid3 looked to be in the better position for a large part of the game, a big Q-E Invoker combo at mid lane resulted in the Flipsid3 losing their barracks, and eventually, the game.
Headline and banner image taken by Steffie Wunderl at Frankfurt Major for ESL
