Team Secret Moves Closer to Division II Relegation After Another DPC 2023 Loss

Tour 1 of the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) 2023 has not been great for some of the top teams that have changed rosters recently, and Team Secret in Western Europe (WEU) may be at the top of this list at the moment. With placement at the bottom of the points table, Clement "Puppey" Ivanov's team is at risk of relegation to Division II after having lost all four series played so far. Secret suffered its most recent loss against Entity. Even though it recorded its first game win of the tournament in this series, over the course of the best of three series, Secret was thoroughly outplayed, with few moments of pushback.

Team Secret vs Entity: Match recap and highlights

Recap

In game 1, Entity dominated Secret on all fronts. Entity had a considerably speedier draft, and the team took full advantage of it by playing aggressively and were constantly on Secret's tail. Secret's slower draft left it unable to handle the enemy movements, with BOOM, in particular, having a difficult time throughout the game. Secret lost the game with minimal resistance, with only nine kills after 36 minutes compared to Entity's 40.

In game 2, Secret went for Zayac's iconic Techies, and he made the most of it. The laning stage was even, but Secret's heroes started finding crucial kickoffs at regular intervals after it. Secret won a vital teamfight near the Roshan pit in the middle of the game when Entity overextended, giving Secret the upper hand. From there, the squad played methodically to secure its first game win of the tournament in 41 minutes.

Game 3 was nearly identical to the first, with Entity outperforming Secret in the laning stage. While BOOM played well in the midlane, Secret's heroes struggled to choose the appropriate battles in the other two lanes. This gave all cores on Entity the space they needed, and because the game's pace was slow at first, Stormstormer led the networth chart by a wide margin thanks to his farming abilities and Hand of Midas. With enough starting items acquired, Entity ramped up the aggression, resulting in Secret losing bodies one by one. Secret lost the game in 31 minutes after having only five kills against Entity's 30.

Highlights

Here are some highlights of the series.

Secret's recent slow start to the current season has been an unprecedented turnaround from where it stood a few months ago when it competed in The International 11 (TI11)'s grand final. THhe only change was Michał "Nisha" Jankowski being replaced by Miroslav "BOOM" Bian, but its impact on the team’s performance is evidently too significant.

Secret will play Tundra Esports, Nigma Galaxy, and Into The Breach (ITB) for the remaining series, but the series against Nigma and ITB will be crucial for the team to avoid relegation.