What a day. Perhaps the best ever since The International 8. Boasting 4 incredibly high-quality series with each game extending to full BO3 series. The Top 6 teams at the MDL Disneyland Paris Major put on quite the show in Paris.
Team Secret have finally cemented their place on top of the DPC tables with some strong and consistent play throughout the season. That proved to be the case today as well as they claimed their place in the Grand Finals, after an incredible upper bracket run.
Throughout the group stages, Team Secret didn’t drop a single series as they topped their group with a 4-0 scoreline beating out NiP, Chaos E.C. and Team Empire to clinch the number 1 spot. From there, they beat PSG.LGD 2-1 and OG 2-0 to claim a place in the Upper Bracket finals. There Team Secret matched up against a surging EG team that have looked nay-unstoppable in this tournament.
The first game between the two was a 27-minute stomp with Team Secret cheesing it out with a Meepo for Midone. He went on to utterly pick apart EG with his 15-minute Ethereal blade - Blink Dagger combo putting up an absurd 20-2-4 scoreline. The NA team simply had no answer, as they ended up conceding Game 1 mere minutes after Midone scored a Rampage.
Game 2 was a completely different story, however, as the NA powerhouse struck-back plowing through Secret’s defences with a monstorous performance from Arteezy’s Sven as he put up ridiculous figures including a 680 GPM as well as a 12/0/7 KDA. Team Secret just melted to the might of Sven’s blade as EG mowed down the Europeans in just 29 minutes to level the series.
Game 3 was one of the most insanely high-skilled games ever displayed on Pro Dota. A fast-paced brawl that had both teams fighting regardless of who was in the lead from minute one. Evil Geniuses looked like they were pulling away to a lead after they won a massive teamfight utilizing Arteezy’s Radiance timing on Naix.
However, that didn’t stop Secret from playing to their strengths and they came back with a teamwipe of their own and secured Aegis. But EG wouldn't give up either, at the 43 minute mark they managed to take a successful teamfight after SumaiL and Arteezy managed to get a significant amount of farm to reverse the tide.
Despite their tenacity, Team Secret (helped by EG’s nemesis: The cliff) overcame this momentary lapse and made a comeback to secure the Game 3 victory to move on to the Grand Finals.
In the other matches of the day, we saw PSG.LGD eliminate NiP in an absolute thriller following which Team Liquid prevailed in the European showdown against OG.
In the last match of the day, we saw PSG.LGD taking on Team Liquid in the Lower Bracket semifinals. The series was close with both teams pulling out some of their absolute best moves and stretching the limits of Late-Game Dota. In the end, it was Team Liquid who emerged victoriously and will move on to the Lower Bracket finals.
Evil Geniuses and Team Liquid will now fight it out against each other to determine who will face Team Secret in the MDL Disneyland Paris Major - Grand Finals.