Utter domination of Team Liquid was the story for European Dota 2 squad Team Secret, who swept the International 7 champions earlier today in the DreamLeague season eight grand finals.
To get there, they defeated Liquid not once, but twice—first in the upper bracket finals, then in the championship match. This was the third consecutive series in which Secret triumphed against their closest and most recent rivals, with the first being their best-of-three match at ESL One Hamburg.
Captain Clement “Puppey” Ivanov and his crew claimed the $500,000 grand prize and an additional 750 Pro Circuit points for their victory, placing them on top of the leaderboards in the race for invites to TI8 next year.
He and his teammates performed unbelievably well, crushing their opponents at every turn. Liquid couldn’t catch a single break against Secret—even in game one where they kept up with Secret in terms of net worth despite being way down in kills.
Hard carry player Marcus “Ace” Hoelgaard was cited multiple times by the casters and analysts as a big part of Secret’s success at DreamLeague, and for good reason. The 23-year-old Danish player displayed a whole new level of skill, showing the people in attendance and those watching the stream just how much he’s improved since his days with MYM, the Danish Bears, and Cloud9.
This marks the first victory in a premier tournament not just for Ace, but also for support player Yazied “YapzOr” Jaradat, and surprisingly, Yeik “MidOne” Nai Zheng as well.
As for Liquid, it’s pretty clear that while they are still in the top tier of competitive Dota 2, they are no longer the undisputed best team in the world. There are, of course, still plenty of tournament wins in store for them—but Secret have definitely threatened their spot as the top team.
