The post Team Secret sweep OG to win BLAST Bounty Hunt appeared first on Esport Bet.
]]>Since the Dota 2 esports scene transitioned to online play amid the COVID-19 pandemic, many top-tier teams have been struggling for consistency. That, however, can’t be said for Team Secret, who have won each of the five events they’ve attended since the start of May.
Team Secret began the year with the DreamLeague Season 13 title in January and a grand finals appearance at WePlay! Dota 2 Tug of War: Mad Moon in February. But it was not until last month when Clement “Puppey” Ivanov and his crew switched into a higher gear and won WePlay! Pushka League S1: Division 1, Gamers Without Borders 2020, OGA Dota PIT 2020 Online: Europe/CIS and ESL One Birmingham 2020 – Online: Europe & CIS.
OG, meanwhile, have seen mixed results since winning The International 2019. Early into 2020, they parted ways with Sébastien “Ceb” Debs, Anathan “ana” Pham and Jesse “JerAx” Vainikka, who were replaced by Martin “Saksa” Sazdov, Sumail “SumaiL” Hassan and Yeik “MidOne” Nai Zheng. Although the new roster produced near-flawless runs through the ESL One Los Angeles 2020 Europe qualifiers, OG’s situation turned sour in March when they finished in fifth-eighth place at WeSave! Charity Play – EU & CIS.
In the months that followed, OG struggled to field a full roster as MidOne and Topias “Topson” Taavitsainen were unable to attend several events due to travel restrictions. With stand-ins, OG managed a runner-up finish at ESL One Los Angeles 2020 – Online: Europe & CIS as well as top four at Gamers Without Borders 2020 and OGA Dota PIT 2020 Online: Europe/CIS.
Their relative success was overshadowed by a ninth-10th finish in the WePlay! Pushka League and 13th-14th place at ESL One Birmingham 2020, which was the first tournament since the ESL One Los Angeles qualifiers where OG had all five starting members at their disposal.
OG’s performances seemed to stabilise at the BLAST Bounty Hunt, where Johan “N0tail” Sundstein and co. disposed of Alliance (2-0) and Team Nigma (2-0) either side of a valiant defeat to Team Secret (1-2) in the upper bracket finals. The grand finals were a one-sided affair, however, as Secret needed just over 85 minutes to win the series with a 107-38 aggregate kill score and a combined 71,312 net worth lead.
Team Secret ended the BLAST Bounty Hunt with US $50,067 in tournament winnings and no additional bounties. Although OG finished as runners-up, they pocketed only $15,460, whereas third-placed Nigma won took home $18,090 courtesy of their $5,000 bonus for completing the VIP bounty.
The BLAST Bounty Hunt featured four unique bounties which the teams could complete in order to earn additional cash prizes. Out of four bounties, only “What’s Mine is Mine” and “VIP” were completed, while no team managed to grab the “Drop the Dead Donkey” and “Something Something Feeder” bounties.
What’s Mine is Mine ($5,000) – The opposing team cannot gain control of your outpost for the duration of a game (Won by Alliance)
VIP ($5,000) – Keep one team member alive for the duration of a single game (Won by Nigma)
Drop the Dead Donkey ($15,000) – Kill nine or more of your opponent’s couriers in a single game as a team
Something Something Feeder ($20,000) – Kill nine or more of your opponent’s couriers in a single game as a team
1st. Team Secret – $50,067
2nd. OG – $15,460
3rd. Nigma – $18,090
4th. Team Liquid – $8,424
5th. Alliance – $12,560
6th. Ninjas in Pyjamas – $5,400
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]]>Team Liquid and Nigma will clash for the eighth time in history this Tuesday in the opening fixture of the BLAST Bounty Hunt, which will see six of the strongest European Dota2 esports teams fight over a US $145,000 prize pool.
Seeing Nigma’s roster play against Team Liquid is still a bit strange, even now, eight months since they left to play under a new banner. While Kuro “KuroKy” Salehi Takhasomi and his crew enjoyed a very successful period at Liquid, they have yet to gain any serious traction since becoming independent.
While Nigma boast one of the most stacked Dota2 rosters in the scene, they are also one of the most inconsistent. At the start of the year, for instance, they made it to the Leipzig Major playoffs without losing a single map, only to drop games against Evil Geniuses and beastcoast to finish ninth-12th.
They followed that up with a grand finals appearance at the StarLadder ImbaTV Dota 2 Minor Season 3 Europe Qualifier and a title-winning run at WePlay! Dota 2 Tug of War: Mad Moon in February, which remain two of their best placements to date. Last weekend, Nigma also concluded their run at ESL One Birmingham 2020 – Online: Europe & CIS, where they lost to Team Secret (1-2) in the third round of the lower bracket to finish in fourth place.
Although the online format might have contributed to Nigma’s recent struggles, it’s still somewhat surprising to see the core of players that won The International 2017 put up such mediocre results. It seems like it’s only a matter of time before we stop connecting this roster with their legacy, but we can’t deny that Nigma, when at their best, can defeat anyone.
While Team Liquid are not the powerhouse they once were, they have put up some decent performances this year. TL finished fifth-sixth at the Leipzig Major, fourth at DOTA Summit 12, third at WePlay! Pushka League S1: Division 1, second at OGA Dota PIT 2020 Online: Europe/CIS and, most recently, fifth-sixth at ESL One Birmingham 2020 – Online: Europe & CIS after losing 0-2 to Nigma in the second round of the lower bracket.
Liquid have posted solid results in most of the events they have attended and picked up a couple of wins against formidable opponents. Overall, however, Aydin “iNSaNiA” Sarkohi and his crew have fallen short of the mark as they are yet to win any silverware this season.
What’s more, Liquid tend to struggle when facing Nigma, so their best bet heading into this match is to count on their opponents’ inconsistency.
Since December, when they clashed at the DreamLeague Season 13 Europe Closed Qualifier, these teams have met seven times. Team Liquid won three matches and eight maps, while Nigma picked up the remaining four series wins and 10 maps.
Their most recent two meetings took place last month at ESL One Birmingham: EU/CIS. The first match was played during the group stage, where Nigma reverse-swept Liquid (2-1) in a close match in which the third and final map took over an hour to decide. Their second meeting in the playoffs was much more one-sided, although it’s worth noting that Liquid were forced to replace iNSaNiA with Petu “Peksu” Vaatainen from OG.Seed for that clash.
It should come as no surprise that esports bookmakers have priced Nigma as favourites for this match, but we are not comfortable backing them at $1.73. Nigma are likely to come out with a win, but considering these meetings often go down to the wire, over 2.5 maps is a much more appealing option for us.
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