Team Spirit eliminates Team Secret and will face PSG LGD once again in the Riyadh Master grand finals making this a rematch of a rematch.
The Riyadh Masters is starting to look more and more like a repeat of TI10 with Team Spirit taking the win over Team Secret. Just like before, Team Spirit struggled during the group stages of the tournament. However, everything changed in the playoffs. Team Spirit showcased a spectacular performance against RNG and Team Secret. Now the CIS team is just a series away from winning the tournament and bringing home a hefty $1.5 million reward.
Two Aegis but not even a dent on Team Secret
On paper, Team Spirit had a textbook lineup with great control through heroes like Ursa, Kunkka, Dawnbreaker, Phoenix and Warlock in game one. Yet they struggled to gain any advantage over Team Secret. They managed to secure Roshan twice, but had to expend so much both times making the Aegis seemed worthless.
At the end of the game, Team Secret had a 50k gold advantage over Team Spirit and a final score of 27-8. The Crystallis Monkey King and Nisha Zeus had 10 kills each with just one death on the Monkey King and none on the Zeus.
Not down for the count, Team Spirit takes game two
Game two started slow with just 12 kills registered within 20 minutes into the game. However, Team Spirit had the clear advantage this time. YATOROGOD's Bristleback was virtually indestructible. Being the most farmed core with a full Aghanim's Scepter and Eternal Shroud within just 20 minutes into the game, Bristleback was able to plow through Team Secret's lineup. Team Secret failed to come up with any real solution to counteract the Bristleback and eventually called the game.
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CoLLapse is back on his TI form
Team Secret had some net worth advantage during the first 15 minutes of the game but that's mainly inflated by the Resolut1on Doom with his Devour skill. Things started to snowball against Team Secret when the Nisha Puck died three times in a row as Miposhka's Winter Wyvern was focused on casting his Winter's Curse on the Puck.
However, the MVP of this game is the CoLLapse Night Stalker. He had a perfect game and was able to easily to hunt his opponents. He even got a Rampage in less than 20 minutes and closed the game out with an Ultra Kill. With such a dominant performance, CoLLapse seemed to slowly relapse to his TI10 form.
TORONTOTOKYO wanted OG to win because "OG is easier"
In the post-match interview, TORONTOTOKYO stated that the team was confident in beating Team Secret recalling their victory against RNG and their one win against PSG LGD in the group stage. He then brought a little spice to the stage mentioning that he wanted OG to win against LGD because they were the easier team. Some OG fans in the crowd did not appreciate his comment and started booing. In any case, Team Spirit looks forward to see what is to come with their final match of the tournament.
Team Spirit will face PSG LGD yet again for the Riyadh Masters grand finals making this a rematch of a rematch. This is a best of three (BO3) grand finals, but it will be an exciting one nonetheless with TI10 champion and runner-up facing off once again.
This will be a series that cannot be missed. Be sure to catch the broadcast on the Gamers8 Twitch channel and follow the highlights on their Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Catch the full schedule and results of the tournament on our website!
