This article is part of our Dota 2 Recap series.
After a somewhat predictable first day at the Dota Pit Season 5 finals on Friday, in Split, Croatia, the time was ripe for an upset. Team Secret and Team Faceless seemed happy to oblige on Saturday, combining together to knock Digital Chaos out of the event and landing them in last place. Neither team could stop Evil Geniuses, though, who secured a spot against OG in the winner's final.
The first series of day 2 of the Dota Pit Season 5 finals saw Evil Geniuses take on Team Faceless. In a bit of a curious drafting move, Faceless opted to use Pudge for their traditional carry player Dominik "Black^" Reitmeier. His teammateToh Wai "xy-" Hong took his position on carry, and Black^ proceeded to demolish EG. He finished Game 1 win with an impressive 14/3/16 KDA (kills/deaths/assists), participating in 30 of his team's 38 kills.
EG immediately took back control of the series in Game 2. With help from Andreas "Cr1t" Nielsen's Earth Spirit, Sumail "SumaiL" Hassan dominated the middle lane with Templar Assassin. He ended the one-sided game with 15 kills and a single death.
Faceless bounced back to take Game 3 down to the wire. Although EG held a small net worth lead for most of the game, Faceless' draft ensured they were never more than a teamfight win away from coming back. With Daryl Koh "iceiceice" Pei Xiang on Magnus and Black^ on Juggernaut, there was always the potential to obliterate EG in a single Reverse Polarity. Despite winning a major teamfight near the end of the contest, Faceless couldn't withstand the pressure from the mega creeps and ultimately lost the final game of the series, 1-2.
Digital Chaos and Team Secret took the stage next. In Game 1, DC held an early gold lead, but Secret's ability to fight as a team brought them back. With Clement "Puppey" Ivanov on Silencer, Secret was almost guaranteed a fight win whenever Global Silence was available. DC almost managed to hold with a level 25 Aliwi "w33" Omar Invoker, but Secret avoided his Refresher Orb combo and was able to storm the DC base.
Secret opted for Silencer again in Game 2. While Global Silence is extremely powerful, a combination of tempered play from DC and less follow-up from Secret made Puppey much less effective. On DC's side, Roman "Resolut1on" Fominok had an excellent game on Terrorblade, taking all six of Secret's outer towers before 25 minutes. The rest of DC was also playing well, and with all five pistons firing they made their Game 2 win look easy.
In Game 3, DC went for a Naga Siren carry, and Secret responded with an aggressive Phantom Assassin pick. Secret's trio of core heroes all worked exceptionally well together. By 25 minutes, Secret had complete control of the game, leading with a score of 20 kills to two and over 20,500 net worth. Secret earned a well-deserved win and advanced to face EG while DC dropped to the best-of-one lower bracket.
In the elimination game against Digital Chaos, Faceless picked Magnus for iceiceice, pairing it with a Black^'s Phantom Assassin. Faceless struggled in early skirmishes, getting kited to death by DC. Once Faceless grouped up behind iceiceice's Reverse Polarity, they were able to crush DC as two Empowered melee cores turned DC's heroes into paper. As a result, Faceless' run at Dota Pit continues, while DC finished in last place alongside Elements Pro Gaming.
The final series of the day was between Team Secret and Evil Geniuses to determine who would face OG in the winner's final. Puppey got off to a hot start on his support Weaver, but EG's draft was too strong once they started to group up. With every hero except SumaiL's Queen of Pain providing either an offensive or defensive aura, EG were an unstoppable wrecking ball.
Secret answered back in the second game with their own fighting lineup centered on Yeik Nai "MidOne" Zheng's Shadow Fiend. With KheZu's Omniknight backing him up, it was MidOne's turn to dominate the battlefield. Secret tied it up 1-1 after taking the game.
In the deciding game of the series, both teams reached into their bag of tricky hero picks. Secret took Magnus for MidOne, while EG picked Clinkz for Artour "Arteezy" Babaev. The last-pick Clinkz was great move by EG, because Arteezy was able to kill Secret's Io and Silencer supports in only two or three attacks. By 13 minutes he was beyond godlike with 10 kills to his name. 10 minutes later the game was over and EG earned a trip into the winner's final to face OG on Sunday. Secret drops down to the lower bracket to face Invictus Gaming in a best-of-one elimination match.
