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Only three teams remain after the penultimate day of the ONE Esports Dota 2 Singapore Major. Evil Geniuses (EG) is the first team to reach the grand finale, with Invictus Gaming (IG) and PSG.LGD set to meet in the bottom group finals to see who will challenge EG for the first 2021 Dota Pro Major Championship. Circuit (DPC).
EG secured first place in the grand finale and at least one Top 2, along with the $ 100,000 and 450 DPC points that goes with it, after defeating PSG.LGD in a thrilling three-game top draw final.
Both of the Major’s Cinderella stories have also ended today, as both the Southeast Asian team OB.Neon Esports and the South American team Thunder Predator have been eliminated. OB.Neon was defeated by Secret in what is arguably the best series of the tournament so far, while Thunder Predator fell to IG.
Both OB.Neon and Thunder Predator withdraw from the Singapore Major in fifth and sixth place, with $ 25,000 and 300 DPC points for their efforts.
OB.Neon had to play in the Major with two substitutes. The team’s carry player, John Anthony “Natsumi” Vargas, was unable to travel to Singapore, with Rafael “Rappy” Palo his starting replacement. After a 1-5 start on the first day of the group stage, Rappy was also ruled out for the remainder of the tournament and Yang “Deth” Wu Heng became his replacement.
One of OB.Neon’s achievements was upsetting the best team in his region, Fnatic, and the best Chinese team Vici Gaming before they were eliminated by Secret.
Thunder Predator was the only South American team in the Major after Beastcoast had to withdraw from the tournament due to coronavirus infections within the team. Despite being the second best team in what many consider to be the weakest region on the circuit, the Thunder Predator finished the group stage at the top of the standings with a 12-2 record.
While Secret sent them to the bottom group on the first day of the Playoffs, Thunder Predator dominated Chinese team Team Aster and CIS Virtus.pro top team before falling to IG.
Finally, IG ended the day by eliminating Secret, the last remaining European team and previously the favorites to win the Major. They now advance to the bottom group final against the Chinese team PSG.LGD. Meanwhile, Secret exits the Major in fourth place with $ 50,000 and 350 DPC points in consolation.
Here is a summary of all the matches on day 8:
Team Secret 2-1 OB Neon Esports
OB.Neon opened the series with one of his trademark fast and aggressive lineups, with Andrei “skem” Ong on Leshrac, Erin Jasper “Yopaj” Ferrer on Puck and Yang “Deth” Wu Heng on Legion Commander. Secret countered with a tanky and heavy tri-core teamfight from Bristleback for Lasse “MATUMBAMAN” Urpalainen, a medium Mars for Michal “Nisha” Jankowski, and an off-lane Death Prophet for Ludwig “zai” Wåhlberg.
OB.Neon was aggressive early on as expected, but Secret was able to keep them in check and force a stalemate mid-game. Both teams then proceeded to exchange fights, with Yopaj and Matumbaman leading their respective teams, but Secret got the best of those exchanges thanks to the power of Bristleback. Despite an energetic defense from OB.Neon, Secret was able to claim the first game after nearly 44 minutes of action.
Matumbaman scored a total of 16 kills against two kills in game one, as his Bristleback dominated the fights and gave Secret a much-needed victory to open the series.
OB.Neon seemed to bounce back in the second game with skem on Gyrocopter, Yopaj on Batrider, and Deth on Leshrac, while Secret had Monkey King for Matumbaman, Nisha on Queen of Pain, and zai on Pangolier.
Secret dominated the lane stage, but OB.Neon was able to get multiple pickoffs to keep things mid-game. OB.Neon caught Secret off guard and demolished them in back-to-back teamfights, allowing Southeast Asia’s last hope to take the game after 26 minutes and forcing the series into a decisive game three.
In the decisive one, Secret was with Matumbaman in Troll Warlord, Nisha in Death Prophet and zai in a Lycan offlane. Meanwhile, OB.Neon pinned his hopes on skem’s carry Nature’s Prophet, Yopaj’s Windranger, and Death’s Pugna offlane.
OB.Neon was aggressive at first, but Secret countered every move they made to enter the middle of the game with the upper hand. Howeer, OB. Neon struck back hard behind Yopaj’s Windranger, who repeatedly landed incredible Shackleshots and dealt a lot of damage with Focus Fire to put Secret on the back foot.
While Secret was able to maintain a gold advantage as the game progressed, OB.Neon still held the advantage in teamfights thanks to the absurd damage Yopaj and Skem took. However, Secret fought back by taking advantage of some of Neon’s mistakes in their commitments, eventually forcing one final decisive clash as the game approached the hour mark.
It all came down to one last fight for Roshan when the game came to an hour. In that decisive clash, Matumbaman and Yopaj were separated from the main engagement and both had no buyback. If one kills the other, he will give victory to his team.
In what was definitely the Major’s best moment yet, Keeper of the Light’s Clement “Puppey” Ivanov clashed while using his Scythe of Vyse on Jaunuel “Jaunuel” Clay’s Spiritbreaker just before he could stun Matumbaman with Charge. of darkness.
If Puppey hadn’t been there in time, Jaunuel would have stunned Matumbaman, who would have been killed by Yopaj, meaning Secret would have lost. Instead, Matumbaman survived, killing Yopaj, Jaunuel, and Skem, who then teleported and ultimately handed Secret the victory.
Matumbaman finished that one-game thriller with 14 kills, while Nisha and Yazied “YapzOr” Jaradat on Earth Spirit added 11 of their own. Meanwhile, Yopaj had 14 deaths and 11 assists against four deaths. Arguably he played the best game of his career thus far despite the fact that OB.Neon lost in the end, as he accomplished the rare feat of finishing a game with a 100 percent kill share and almost single-handedly eliminated. Secret from the Major.
Invictus Gaming 2-1 Thunder Predator
Thunder Predator opened the series with a strong tri-core mid-game, with Alonso “Mnz” León on Juggernaut, Leonardo “Leostyle-” Sifuentes on Death Prophet and Frank “Frank” Arias on Mars. Meanwhile, IG drafted a slower lineup with Jin “flyfly” Zhiyi on Gyrocopter, Zhou “Emo” Yi on Ember Spirit, and Thiay “JT-” Jun Wen on Pangolier.
Both teams made it through much of the game’s early skirmishes, though neither was able to get much of a separation. However, the Thunder Predator lineup connected much faster and outplayed IG in back-to-back fights, forcing the Chinese squad to call GG after just 28 minutes.
Thunder Predator moved away from his fast-paced style in the second game, as Mnz had Medusa while Leostyle was on a medium Nature’s Prophet and Frank was on Timbersaw. Meanwhile, IG had flyfly in Troll Warlord, Emo in Puck, and JT in Beastmaster.
IG changed the script and they were the ones who were aggressive from the start, with the Thunder Predator unable to fight them from the start. The Chinese squad then proceeded to dominate the map, coming up for 10,000 gold and 18-4 in kills, finally forcing the series to a decisive after 27 minutes.
Thunder Predator seemed to be taking things late again in Game 3, with Mnz on Wraith King, Leostyle on Void Spirit and Frank on Pangolier. Meanwhile, IG had a faster lineup with flyfly in Troll Warlord, Emo in Storm Spirit, and JT in an off-piste Kunkka.
IG completely dominated the lane phase, shutting out Frank’s Pangolier in particular to neutralize any teamfighting potential the Thunder Predator had in the middle of the game. As a result, Emo was left out of control in subsequent matchups, allowing flyfly and the rest of IG to finally overcome an energetic resistance from the Thunder Predator to claim the series after 35 minutes.
Evil Geniuses 2-1 PSG.LGD
EG started the series strong with a 28-minute stomp as they heavily countered the PSG draft. Viper for Daryl “iceiceice” Koh.
EG’s dominating performance was fueled by an absurd display from Abed during the lane phase, who had seven spikes and one assist in just the first eight minutes of the game. The North American squad proceeded to dominate mid-game fights, even dipping into PSG.LGD’s base, to force GG’s call.
The second game was a classic battle between two hard carries, with Arteezy in Alchemist and Ame in Phantom Assassin. While EG had an excellent lane phase, with Arteezy remarkably getting a quick 9-minute Battle Fury, PSG.LGD won the midgame fights while Ame’s Phantom Assassin simply made his way through his opponents. Even a desperate pickup from Arteezy’s Divine Rapier wasn’t enough to prevent PSG.LGD from tying the series after 36 minutes.
PSG.LGD returned to Phantom Assassin for Ame in Game 3, with Cheng “Nothing to say“ Jin Xiang on Death Prophet and Zhang “Faith_bian” Ruida on Pangolier. However, EG countered his lineup with Arteezy on Bloodseeker, Abed on Storm Spirit, and iceiceice on Beastmaster.
EG had full control of the lane phase, and Faith_bian in particular was shut down. The North American team proceeded to snowball and dominate mid-game fights, forcing PSG.LGD to retreat back to their base. While an EG dive that went awry gave the Chinese team a small window into a comeback, they lost their chance after Ame was knocked out twice in quick succession and had to concede the series.
Invictus Gaming 2-0 Team Secret
IG opened the series with a carry Io pick for Emo, with flyfly on Ursa and JT on an out-of-lane Windranger to back it up. Secret looked to finish things off midgame before Io connected with Matumbaman in Alchemist, Nisha in Kunkka, and zai in Venomancer.
While Matumbaman’s Alchemist topped the net worth chart after the initial game, Secret couldn’t stop IG’s Io from going online. With Io cultivated from Emo empowering flyfly’s Ursa, IG outplayed Secret in subsequent matchups and forced them to call GG after 41 minutes.
In the second game, Secret opted for Matumbaman in Weaver and Nisha in a half Monkey King to go against IG’s tri-core from Phantom Lancer for flyfly, Void Spirit for Emo, and Mars for JT.
Secret was in control after the lane phase and it looked like their main duo would end up beating the enemy Phantom Lancer. However, IG was able to outlive them in teamfights, with Flyfly repeatedly resisting Secret’s attack long enough for his teammates to reappear and turn the tables on them.
The secrets were finally forced to give in and withdraw from the Major after 30 minutes.
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