We are back at The International Last Chance Qualifier. On our LCQ playoff screens, which means the games make sense.
This is especially acute in matches to match ours. The first semi-final of the upper bracket, the winner advances to the last stage before entering the group stage of The International, and the loser will receive the last chance in the loser's bracket.
Team Secret will meet T1 and the battle should be bright. Who will win in it - we will find out soon.
Now we figure out who is more worthy for this.
Team Secret uniform
Team Secret will be the favorite for this match. The chance of a team from Europe winning is estimated by the bookmaker with odds around 1.7.
For a bo3 series, this figure is more than acceptable and does not give a clear classification for Secret. Yes, they are designated as a favorite, but there can be no talk of any gap.
In general, Secret this season fully justify their current position. You can’t call their state “suspended” otherwise.
Having invited Resolut1on and Zayac Secret to the team, they strengthened, but the “honeymoon” in the updated line-up did not last long. At commercial tournaments, Secret showed a decent level of performance, but closer to the decisive matches in the qualifying round for The International, the team sank.
The Last Chance Qualifier itself is strained for Secret. The team is thrown from the cold into the heat, as evidenced by the performance of the team.
Team Secret latest match results
- Draw with Vici Gaming 1-1
- Draw with Nouns 1-1
- Draw with Polaris 1-1
- Draw with NAVI 1-1
- 2-1 victory over Xtreme Gaming
The victory over the Chinese giant should add confidence to Secret, and she will do it. Maybe.
Team Secret roster
- crystallis
- Nisha
- Resolut1on
- Zayac
- Puppey
We briefly mentioned the roster above, but we can also mention Crystallis. This is probably Secret's most unstable link and if their opponents want to outplay Puppey and the team, focusing on the first position will be the right decision.
Team Secret Heroes
In patch 7.32, Secret played their own DotA at premium tournaments. Their most common spawns were Tusk (7 matches, 85% wins), Witch Doctor (5 matches, 80; wins), Monkey King (5 matches, 60% wins), Pangolier (4 matches, 50% wins), Death Prophet (4 matches, 50% win rate).
Form T1
T1 will play as an outsider in this match. The chance of T1 winning this fight is estimated by the bookmakers with odds around 2.
As we have already found out, in Bo3 such a figure is quite for itself. T1 is a little behind, but just a little bit.
As in the case of Secret, such indicators have a help behind them. First of all, they are caused by the performance of the team during the season, with which T1 had huge problems in 2022.
After the TOP-8 at The International 10, the team seems to have forgotten how to play Dota. The replacement of several players in the roster also became a natural process, but whether T1 benefited from this is not entirely clear.
Composition T1
- ana
- Topson
- Kuku
- Xepher
- whitemon
Before the start of the qualifiers for The International 2022, Topson and ana joined the T1 roster. In the minds of the club's management, such a “strengthening” should have paved the red carpet for T1 at The International, but the reality turned out to be a little different.
Players who have not had experience playing on the TIR-1 scene for a long time are slowly adapting to modern DotA. This is especially noticeable against the background of ana, in which from pogchamp to lul occurs from game to game.
T1 latest match results
- Draw with Infamous 1-1
- 2-0 victory over Xtreme Gaming
- Draw with VP 1-1
- Draw with Wildcard Gaming 1-1
- 2-1 victory over NAVI
In the debut match of the playoffs, T1 was lucky. NAVI decided to play against Morph twice and paid twice for their decision.
Heroes T1
T1 often play with Morph (5 matches, 80% win rate), Marci (4 matches, 50% win rate), Undying (3 matches, 66% win rate), Clockwerk (2 matches, 100% win rate).
Leshrac and Beast Master from Topson deserve special attention. Topias, by hook or by crook, wants to attend The International and does almost everything for this.
History of personal confrontations
Previously, the teams in these compositions did not play. This fight will be the debut confrontation between the teams.
Match outcome
In this fight, I expect an approximately equal fight with an advantage in the direction of Secret. Puppey has a burning desire to go to the next The International in his career, and there is every chance for this. The main thing is not to drag out the old song and not try to counter the conditional Morph and Leshrac when you need to get rid of them at the pico-bans stage.
In principle, I see a full-fledged bo3 as the most obvious outcome for myself.
Result: total +2.5.
