Team Secret smash Alliance 3 – 0 in ESL One Birmingham 2020 final to win fourth title in a row

Alex is a freelance writer based in Adelaide, Australia. He…
Team Secret has done it again. They smashed Alliance in a clean sweep to win ESL One Birmingham 2020 EU/CIS. It’s their fourth title in a row, and their momentum is still growing.
4 tournaments, 4 trophies 🏆
🥇 WePlay! Pushka League, May 12th
🥇 Gamers Without Borders, May 17th
🥇 OGA Dota PIT, May 23rd
🥇 ESL One Birmingham, June 7thThank you to our fans for sticking with us through these rough times 🖤#SecretDota pic.twitter.com/FTK5aXvP8q
— Team Secret (@teamsecret) June 7, 2020
The final series was very one-sided, even for a clean-sweep. The first game ended in less than thirty minutes. Team Secret had 31 kills to Alliance’s 4. Lasse ‘MATUMBAMAN’ Urpalainen and Michal ‘Nisha’ Jankowski were neck and neck for the MVP.
GG! @TeamSecret run over @theAllianceGG in our first game of the EU/CIS Final! Game 2 is coming up! #ESLOne
📺 https://t.co/JQlhBD71lr pic.twitter.com/3BtX4wcS2X
— ESL Dota2 (@ESLDota2) June 7, 2020
MATUMBAMAN had 9 kills, 16 assists and 1 death on Wraith King, while Nisha had 9 kills, 13 assists and 1 death on Nature’s Prophet. But Nisha had slightly more net worth and dealt more damage, making him the one true king.
It wasn’t all about the carry players though. Clement ‘Puppey’ Ivanov, Ludwig ‘Zai’ Wahlberg and Yazied ‘Yapz0r’ Jaradat also performed exceptionally well. They had 13 kills, 55 assists and only 2 deaths between them.
The second game ended in less than thirty minutes as well. It had a similar score to the first. Team Secret had 31 kills again, while Alliance managed to muster 7. It was a slight improvement in an otherwise complete blowout.
GG! @TeamSecret take game 2 here at #ESLOne in style! 😎 They have all the momentum, can they use that to finish out the series in game 3? Or can @theAllianceGG come back at them?
Find out here: https://t.co/JQlhBD71lr pic.twitter.com/z5XvFYMLxb
— ESL Dota2 (@ESLDota2) June 7, 2020
MATUMBAMAN was the clear-cut MVP this time around. He had an impressive 11 kills, 12 assists and 1 death on Luna. Nisha wasn’t too far behind, with 9 kills, 7 assists and 1 death on his infamous Meepo.
Heck, even Zai had a huge game. He had 4 kills, 24 assists and no deaths on Kunkka. But what’s even more impressive is he dealt the same amount of damage as MATUMBAMAN. That’s when you know your offlaner performed well.
The third game lasted longer than the previous two, and it was a little bit closer. But it was still pretty one-sided. MATUMBAMAN transcended into god mode on Ursa. He snagged 19 kills, 5 assists and only 2 deaths, and dealt a ridiculous amount of damage.
GG!
Congratulations to @TeamSecret as they win the game and take the series 3-0 vs @theAllianceGG #ESLOne
Game 3 was much closer but Secret proved to be too strong 👏 pic.twitter.com/DKnHroPHx1
— ESL Dota2 (@ESLDota2) June 7, 2020
It’s the third title for Team Secret on the trot after winning OGA Dota PIT 2020, Gamers Without Borders and WePlay! Pushka League. Their run has been nothing short of impressive.
However, an unlikely candidate managed to break Team Secret’s undefeated streak in the group stage. Team Unique, a relatively unknown Russian organization, made surprisingly quick work of Team Secret, beating them 2 – 0.
THAT is a MASSIVE upset! @Team_UNQ 2-0 @teamsecret, breaking their streak AND taking them one series down here at #ESLOne Birmingham!https://t.co/RUTJQihdBh pic.twitter.com/lycxTdxeCN
— ESL Dota2 (@ESLDota2) May 27, 2020
Alliance managed to beat Team Secret as well. They beat them 2 – 1 in the first round of the Upper Bracket. But it didn’t stop Team Secret from bouncing back. They blitzed through the Lower Bracket and eventually got their revenge in the final series.
Despite their losses, Team Secret still had an impressive run. In terms of individual games, they went 12 – 2 in the group stage and 10 – 3 in the playoffs. And of course, they won the tournament, which is more important than any record and earned them a decent $60,000.
Team Secret is, without a doubt, the strongest team on the scene right now. Their undefeated streak might be over, but they’ll have a chance to make it five titles in a row when they compete in BEYOND EPIC: Europe/CIS, which starts on June 15.
Alex is a freelance writer based in Adelaide, Australia. He finished a law degree but realised it wasn't the career for him and decided to follow his dream of becoming a writer. Since then, he has finished two postgraduate writing degrees at Swinburne University of Technology. Now he writes about his other passion; esports and gaming.