Dota 2: MDL Disneyland Paris Major | Final Day Recap

ESTNN wraps up the final day of the MDL Paris Major.

After a week of amazing Dota, it is finally time to say goodbye to the MDL Disneyland Paris Major. This tournament was one of the most interesting DPC events during the season, as we saw tons of back-and-forth action as well as various surprises, which all adds up to the experience called a Dota Major. Let’s take a look at what happened in the final day of the tournament.

Evil Geniuses vs Team Liquid

Game One

The Lower Bracket final was a bloodbath between two of the most consistent teams during this DPC season. The interesting thing is that Team Liquid already lost once against EG in the first round of the playoffs. Game one went heavily in favor of the European powerhouse. They won the laning stage, which gave them a very stable lead during the mid-game. Using their advantage, Miracle and Co. were able to secure one lane of rax fairly fast.

EG tried to bounce back in the game but the 16k net worth advantage just 24 minutes in was a little bit too much, even for the NA squad. They had no other choice but to call it in and focus on the second game of the series.

Game two

Since they were only a single game away from elimination, EG went with a very meta based line-up. Sadly, their plan did not work.

Similar to the first game, Team Liquid were able to secure their laning stage excellently. They made constant rotations around the map, especially against RTZ. At the same time, Miracle was completely free farming in his lane. Slowly but steadily, Team Liquid took full control of the map, which resulted in a fast Roshan kill. This made the already hard to kill Morphling rather impossible. Miracle completely ripped through EG, giving them pretty much no chances.

EG finished third yet again, which is by no means a bad placement. However, a team of their caliber always tries to be a winner. Hopefully, they will be able to bring their A-game for TI 9.

The Grand Final

Viewers could not have asked for a better final. Team Secret and Team Liquid both deserved their spot here.

Game one

In game one, Team Liquid decided to bet on their Morphling yet again. To make him even stronger, Kuroky also picked a Drow Ranger. The game was even for the first 10 minutes until TL’s cores started to gain an advantage. Once they did, the game was completely one-sided.

Miracle picked up an early Aegis, which was pretty much the last nail in the coffin for Team Secret. Shortly after that, he managed to secure a quadruple rampage, even though it was at the “fountain party”.Mind_Control completely dominated and was one of the main reasons his team found success in his team in Game One.

Game two

Even though Team Secret lost the first game, they still had something to say in this series. Puppey, the Dota genius, went for a very cheesy draft involving Arc Warden for MidOne and a support Zeus. Unlike game one, Team Secret did a great job during the laning stage. This gave them the opportunity to push some towers, utilizing the full potential of their draft.

Team Liquid had a difficult job moving around the map due to Secret’s constant push. This gave Puppey and his team-mates a lot of space, which they used to its full potential. Despite that, Miracle still managed to get a lot of farm on his Juggernaut, which gave TL a glimmer of hope.

Even though Team Secret had over 16k advantage 35 minutes in, Miracle and his team-mates did not look that far behind. That was until Secret claimed the Aegis and the bottom rax. TL tried one last five-man smoke but the Chongqing Major champions were too strong.

Game three

The third game of the epic series started with a free-farming Miracle. Team Liquid was definitely the more active team, whereas Secret focused more on helping Nisha. By the looks of, Puppey and Co.’s tactic was more successful as they managed to accumulate over 10k lead just 15 minutes in. The main problem that TL had was the fact that they relied entirely on Miracle. However, as soon Zai lands his Doom on him, the fight was pretty much over.

After wiping TL again, Team Secret was able to get two lanes of rax. The TI 7 champions tried to fight back, but they just lacked the items to do so. Team Secret grabbed the lead in the series.

Game Four

In the 4th game of the series, we got to see some of the signature heroes of certain players.

Team Secret just seemed to be on another level for the second game in a row. They won the laning stage and the mid-game, which gave them a solid lead over their enemies. Miracle’s Anti-Mage was the only beacon of light for Liquid but even he could not deal with the huge damage output done by Secret’s cores.

Having the momentum on their side, Team Secret pushed into Liquid’s base and got the top rax. TL looked lost, and had absolutely no way to stop the push. Team Liquid finally called the “good game,” giving the series and Major win to Team Secret.

Team Secret proved yet again why are they considered to be the best team in the world. They have been absolutely outstanding throughout the entire DPC season, winning two out of all four Majors so far. No wonder people believe that they will also be the next TI winners. That said, other teams in attendance also showed us that they are contenders for TI.

The main reason for their success is Puppey, whos drafts have been on another level.

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