ROG Masters champions: Team Secret unstoppable

Team Secret claimed their second championship title of the new season at the ROG Masters Asian Tournament. The European/SEA mix shellacked Execration in the grand finals with a 3:0 victory. With the addition of Maurice “KheZu” Gutmann, Team Secret looked on point and stronger than ever as they walked away with the $71,000 prize.

Team Secret topped their group with with a 4:0 record, while Execration took the first spot in Group A with a 4:1 record. Eight teams surged forward to the playoffs.

EHOME.X, Team Secret, Execration and Mineski advanced to the semi finals after Fnatic’s surprising early elimination.

Team Secret had easily knocked out Natural 9 before suffering their first loss at the hands of Mineski. The invited crowd favorites didn’t seem phased for the minor hiccup and bounced back for the next two consecutive wins.

Execration cruised through the playoff brackets without dropping a single match. They wiped through Entity eSports and EHOME.X

Regardless of a direct invite to the Boston Major and the MPGL SEA Championship 8 title, the Filipino team struggled against the infamous Team Secret. Execration appeared to have difficulty coordinating smoothly and executing their strategies, while Team Secret dominated with incredible plays and precision.

In an overwhelming 3:0 victory, Team Secret grabbed their second title of the season.

MidOne's Rampage ends game1! @teamsecret 1-0s @ExecrationGG in #ROGMASTERS #Dota2 Grand Finals

► https://t.co/XCX8Ij7QzF pic.twitter.com/9bjfphIjhI

— ESL Asia (@ESL_Asia) November 13, 2016

ROG Masters Asian Tournament

At the end of August, ROG Masters announced a new Asian tournament boasting a $150,000 prize pool. The event incorporated five regions competing for 10 spots in the Grand Finals to be held in the City Center of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on the 12th and 13th of November.

Toby “Tobiwan” Dawson, Gareth “Gareth/Durka” Bateson, Soe “Soe” Gschwind-Penski, Chan “WinteR” Litt Binn, Danelie “Danelie” Purdue and David “Luminous” Zhang were on hand to bring all the action to fans across the world. The tournament was hosted by none other than Paul “ReDeYe” Chaloner.

ROG has sponsored multiple events in Dota 2, including ASUS ROG DreamLeague and PlayitCool.

ROG Masters invited teams

• Fnatic
• Team Secret

ROG Masters qualified teams

• Oceania (OCE): Natural 9, Big and Black
• East Asia (EA): The Mongolz, MOL
• Southeast Asia (SEA): Mineski, Execration*
• China (CN): EHOME.X, MAX.X
• Rest of Asia (ROA): ENTiTy eSports, Aggressive 5

*Execration replaced Next Generation

ROG Masters prize pool

The total prize pool for the tournament is $150,000.

• 1st place – $71,250 – Team Secret
• 2nd place – $33,750 – Execration
• 3rd-4th place – $15,000 – EHOME.X/Mineski
• 5th-8th place – $3,750 – Fnatic/Entity eSports/Big and Black/Natural 9

Team Secret

Team Secret at MDL 2016

Secret were among the first to announce their roster for the 2016 fall season.

During the drop period, Artour “Arteezy” Babaev, Jacky “EternalEnVy” Mao and Sam “Bulba” Sosale parted ways with the team – eventually joining Evil Geniuses, Team NP and Team Liquid, respectively.

The new lineup included three SEA players – former MVP.Phoenix members MP and Forev, and ex-Fnatic player MidOne – as well as two European players and members of the team’s previous roster, Puppey and pieliedie.

Earlier in October the team took their first championship title in the FACEIT Invitational after sweeping through Vega Squadron 2:0.

Maurice “KheZu” Gutmann replaced Lee “Forev” Sang-don on Team Secret after the team’s failure to qualify for the Boston Major. KheZu made his debut with the team at the ROG Masters Asian tournament.

Team Secret roster:

Clement “Puppey” Ivanov
Johan “pieliedie” Åström
Pyo “MP” No-a
Maurice “KheZu” Gutmann
Yeik “MidOne” Nai Zheng