Virtus Pro win the Kuala Lumpur Major 2018 over Team Secret
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Virtus Pro win the Kuala Lumpur Major 2018 over Team Secret

Virtus Pro won the Kuala Lumpur Major, the first Dota 2 Major of Dota Pro Circuit 2018-19. They were up against Team Secret in the Grand Finals [ a Best of Five series].  The team which recently inducted Nisha to their team displayed excellent synergy and coordination in their playstyle. They had a strategy and we saw how the players stuck to their strategy throughout the series. However, Virtus Pro stuck to their strategy and proved themselves the kings of the game. Their ability to constantly kite Secret and defeat Puppey in the veto phase was instrumental in their victory. 

Yapzor was one of the best players in the series as he was able to single-handedly play his role to perfection. His performance on the Rubick as well as the Weaver allowed Team Secret the positioning and space. Team Secret saw Zai and Yapzor play some amazing supports as they enabled the rest of the team to deal the damage. Team Secret had a plan to disable Ramzes666 in Game 3 and they did it perfectly with the Zeus and Rubick [ with Reflection and Sunder].

 

Virtus Pro won the game due to their drafts, which was simply their expression of their playstyle. With Ramzes666 on his trademark Terrorblade and the rest of the team playing around him perfectly, Team secret was at a loss on how to handle their lineup.

Virtus Pro draw first blood

The first game saw Virtus Pro emerge victorious as they were able to properly play around Team Secret’s Shadow Shaman as the core. Virtus Pro had a very tanky lineup which involved a Position 5 Centaur Warrunner, A Phoenix as well as a Panda and Storm Spirit. For team Secret, it was almost impossible to burst them down which is what the team was built for. Having a Tiny and a Shadow Shaman meant that Team Secret wanted to burst down the Virtus Pro lineup. However, the CIS team was smart to realise this very early and drafted accordingly. As the game wore on, Shadow Shaman and Tiny saw their effectiveness fall drastically. They were unable to do much in team fights. Virtus Pro had a very late game lineup as well. Their cores scale really well into the late game, allowing Team the team to wait out Team Secret’s mid-game prowess.

Secret Strike back with Yapzor’s Weaver

Yapzor’s Weaver went on rampage during Game 2. There was simply no stopping this man

The Second game saw team Secret resort to their Arc Warden pick for Nisha. The player has proven himself to be one of the best Arc Warden players at the Kuala Lumpur Major. And he did not disappoint in Game 2. With MidOne playing on the Broodmother he easily won the mid-lane and continued his dominance through the mid-game. Virtus Pro was unable to recover from the early shock.

Yapzor on the Weaver was single-handedly responsible for turning the tides in Secret’s favour. He went 18-4 on his Weaver and had a Scythe of Vyse by the end of the Game. With Virtus Pro’s lack of cooldown [ except the Blackhole], there was no way they could actually lockdown Yapzor.

Eventually Team Secret was simply able to survive Virtus Pro in team fights with the help of Weaver’s Aghanim Scepter. With this victory, Secret managed to tie the series 1-1.

Game 3 saw Team Secret take the Lead

Zai’s Monkey King in Game 3 was crucial for Secret’s victory

The third game was equally frustrating for Virtus Pro as there was no way they could handle Yapzor’s Rubick. With a quick Blink Dagger and Aghanim’s Scepter he was able to constantly harass Ramzes666 with his very own Reflection ability.

At the same time, Zai and Nisha were able to lock down the rest of the Virtus Pro roster. Zai’s timely buybacks and the vision he provided using his Tree Dance ability were crucial in Team Secret taking advantageous team fights. With constant knowledge of the opponents’ positioning Team Secret was able to take team fights on their own terms.

Virtus Pro strike back in Games 4 and 5 with their own Terrorblade

The final two games saw Virtus Pro pick up the Terrorblade. The CIS squad, once known for Ramzes666 Terrorblade reminded everyone why they are one of the best teams in the scene right now. With GPM nearing 900, Ramzes666 was able to put forth some really strong performances in the games. Team secret picked up the Morphling in Game two in an attempt to counter Terrorblade. However, Virtus Pro had the better synergy and extremely good coordination to ensure that Team Secret was never able to relax. Their fake fall-backs would often catch team Secret unawares. No[o]ne was playing the Obisidian Destroyer and he would shut down any attempt on Ramzes666 by Team Secret. Ultimately, the Virtus Pro team was able to dispel most of the damage on their cores via various abilities.

Ramzess went back to his Terrorblade for the last two games.

Game 5 saw Virtus Pro pick up a very tanky lineup. Consisting of heroes like DK, Magnus, Tiny and Terrorblade there was little that Secret could do to stop the Terrorblade farm. With the empower, Ramzes666 was able to farm extremely fast and get crucial items. Once he got the BKB, there was little to stop him in a team fight. His ability to deal massive amounts of damage unhindered meant that Virtus Pro was always able to take down objectives. Secret was often caught out of position as they attempted to take fights in a hurry. However, they would not always send the right person forward as they took these fights. With some excellent warding by Rodjer, VP was able to catch them off-guard even in their own jungle.

Virtus Pro start the season with a win

With this victory, Virtus Pro take yet another Major. This is their first Major of the season and there is no telling how many more they will win. They take home a prize money of $350,000. However, what is probably more important to the team is the 4950 DPC points. Since there are just 5 Majors this season, each Major victory is a massive boost to the team’s chances to make it to The Shanghai International 2019.

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