The lower bracket of the ESL One Birmingham paved the for an ESL Katowice grand final rematch. It was a decent opportunity for the the CIS side to take down the kings of EU. Before this lower bracket semi final match, Gambit lost all last nine meeting against Secret. Yet after an exceptional form in London, the players and the fans were hoping for another miracle.
Game 1
The early stage of the game one was an absolute disaster for CIS side. In the first five minutes of the game, their courier was taken down twice. Secret also got the first blood and absolutely undrafted Gambit with aggressive team fight lineup. The core element to Secret’s success was Warlock’s Fatal Bonds combination with with AOE output of Batrider, Medusa and Sven. The explosive draft of the side wreaked havoc on the map. Since Gambit was unable to take fights and push for objectives. So after 30 minutes of play, Secret took the first game of the series.
Game 2
In the second game, the CIS changed its strategy for the laning phase. In the hopes of countering Secret, Gambit went insanely aggressive. It led to Secret sacrificing their supports in the early game in the hope of Michał “Nisha” Jankowski’s Anti-Mage getting the farm. Gambit totally outplayed Secret early on as their Lone Droid managed to get an early radiance. They should have forced Secret to take on more teamfights. However it was Secret that capitalized on positioning error of Gambit and whipped out the entire team to turn the game in its favor. One good fight was enough for their carry, Nisha to get Manta Style and Battlefury which was enough to get control of the map. Soon after that, Secret got a Roshan kill and pushed the mid lane to get a 2-0 victory.
It seems like @GambitEsports simply cannot overcome the might of @teamsecret! They lose 0-2 to Team Secret, GG to both teams! ?#ESLOne pic.twitter.com/dyaZmhI3eq
— ESL Dota2 (@ESLDota2) June 1, 2019
In the post-game interview, Puppet said that his team was on a timer. The Secret side got control of the game in just the perfect moment. We believe that if Puppey hadn’t placed that ward then it would have been game over and we may well have gotten a third game on our hand. For the fans of the CIS side, we are sorry to tell you that Gambit Esports has been eliminated from the competition. Moreover, their losing streak has extended to eleven games against the leaders of the Dota Pro Circuit. But on the bright side, Gambit will have another chance to seek redemption at the end of June as moth teams will compete in the last Major of the 2018-2019 season, EPICENTER. Meanwhile Secret will continue to compete for the title, against PSG.LGD in the lower bracket final.
The competition has surely brought some exciting games. We will put in our best effort to keep you updated with each result of the final day!
