Team Secret almost didn’t make it to the International 2022 this year. After failing to find their footing throughout the DPC season, Secret had to play in the Last Chance Qualifiers (LCQ), making them one of the few teams to play the most amount of games to reach the main event.
Though Secret’s path wasn’t an easy one, they’ve been performing at a high level ever since the start of the groups. Secret deleted PSG.LGD in a destructive TI11 sweep and advanced to the upper bracket’s second round, where they will face Thunder Awaken tomorrow as the South American representative upset EG this morning.
Shortly after defeating LGD, Puppey was interviewed by the Russian Dota 2 production crew, where the legendary captain evaluated their recent series and upcoming opponent.
“The second game wasn’t as easy as we expected,” Puppey said. Despite securing an early lead, Secret couldn’t clearly execute the fights like in the first match. Especially during the group stage, Secret adopted a more aggressive gameplay style that didn’t give their enemies any breathing room.
Puppey expressed that he doesn’t think most people understood how to play Dota 2 aggressively right now. “We’re pushing and not letting them farm,” Puppey said. “We choose heroes with certain timings and press hard.”
In addition to running high-tempo heroes, Secret also made a few unconventional picks throughout the tournament. Most recently, the team picked Silencer for their position three, Resolut1on. Puppey mentioned that it was a strategy the team prepared that was centered around their offlaner’s play style. Resolut1on prefers playing carry-like in the heroes in the offlane, and Secret have been tailoring strategies that fit the Ukrainian.
Secret’s captain also evaluated their opponents in the next round, TA. Puppey reminded the fans that they also dropped a game versus TA in the group stages, where they were quickly overwhelmed by the SA challengers in less than 30 minutes. The two teams will face each other on Oct. 22, 3am CT in the upper bracket semifinals.
