9 Pandas Ease Past Team Secret

9 Pandas faced a heartbreaking loss against the BetBoom Team, where they conceded the first game after a massive throw and ended up losing the series to get knocked down to the Lower Bracket. The 9 Pandas camp didn’t look happy after the BetBoom match, which could be seen by the player cams. However, the young roster had a much-needed day to reset and recoup their emotions in time for their series against Team Secret.

In the first game of the matchup, Team Secret went for a greedy draft with a Templar Assassin in the mid lane and a Terrorblade for their last pick. 9 Pandas had the overall last pick and decided to go with Alchemist, a hero RAMZES666 has been finding lots of recent success with.

RAMZES666 and his Alchemist had a free time in lane, with a staggering 6,500 net worth when the clock hit 10. While Alchemist was silently free farming, his team found success around the map to punish Secret and their greedy lineup. With such a passive lineup, Team Secret had to sit back and farm for their item timings, but they were farming against an Alchemist, and every minute that passed by where nothing happened would favor the Alchemist lineup.

Eventually, 9 Pandas built up a massive net worth lead and started hitting Secret's high ground once Alchemist had his Butterfly timing. With the help of MieRo’s Helm of the Overlord creep, Secret lost two lanes of Barracks very early into the game. The game dragged on for a while, but 9 Pandas could close it out at 34 minutes.

Team Secret learned their lesson for the second game and tried drafting a more well-rounded tempo draft. Though Armel had a good time in the mid lane with his Templar Assassin, the side lanes were heavily dominated by the Eastern Europeans. 9 Pandas took an early net worth lead. Still, the gold difference was equalized at the 20-minute mark after Team Secret got some successful pick-off kills.

The game came down to a team fight at the Rosh pit. Team Secret had one of the best Roshan lineups with Templar Assassin and Ursa and could quickly take the Aegis, but not for free. The 9 Pandas team was outside the pit and ready to contest, where they quickly punished Team Secret right after they claimed Roshan, killing three heroes along with the Aegis to take complete control of the game. This Rosh fight propelled 9 Pandas into the lead, and they converted their lead to a 38-minute victory against Team Secret after a compelling showing.

Team Secret is eliminated from Riyadh Masters 2023 and will bring home $300,000. Meanwhile, 9 Pandas will continue their run and play against Team Aster tomorrow.