Kuala Lumpur Major: Can Team Secret Replicate Their Magic

At ESL One Hamburg, Puppey's draft and in-game outplays as a captain were the center of attraction. In the group stages, the men in black finished at the top of the table, joined by Vici Gaming. The team went 1-1 against Evil Geniuses and Vici Gaming and stood their ground firmly with 2-0s against Mineski, Pain Gaming, and Alliance. With the stakes high, many had their eyes glued to how further can Team Secret take their incredible start to the tournament ahead.

Also, read Team Secret Win ESL One Hamburg

The start of their journey in the playoffs was rocky. Starting in the upper bracket, they faced the CIS giants Virtus.pro. Virtus.pro won the first game in the best of three on the back of a stellar performance by all the five in a risky Drow line-up. The second game was Team Secret's to turn and strike hard. Yapz0r played his signature Rubick and utterly demolished the opponents. However, luck wasn't on their side, and the third game went against their favor. A resurgent VP spearheaded by Ramzes666's invincible Ursa stole the game.

From dropping to the lower bracket immediately to clenching the trophy deems a remarkable performance by them. Team Secret 2-0ed their lower bracket round 2 opponents, Evil Geniuses. This happened again with their match against paiN Gaming. Then, they met their nemesis of the tournament, VP. The first game ended with a 40-minute long battle resulting in a victory for Team Secret. The second, however, proved to be much shorter, and at the back of a great performance by Nisha's Weaver and MidOne's Phantom Lancer, the team cruised to a win.

And then, the grand finals.

The match promised to be an absolute cracker right from the beginning. Team Secret bagged the first game only to go down in the next at the hands of a combined effort by the Chinese. Game 3 followed suit, only that it took nearly half the time of game 2. However, the momentum of the match was soon to switch sides. Team Secret pulled off a fabulous and note-worthy effort that changed the course of the match to their side, and eventually won the tournament.

With such a strong showing at one of the first tournaments itself, it remains to be seen what next Puppey and co. deliver. Were they lucky, or can their success story be replicated at the Kuala Lumpur Major?