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The Secret to success at ESL One Frankfurt

Up until two months ago, Team Secret had no LAN victories to their name. Now, in the closing stretch before Dota’s biggest and most prestigious tournament ever, The International 5, they are on an unstoppable streak.

After taking first place in ESL One Frankfurt at the weekend, in an almost effortless sweep with a few “explosive” surprises, their run extends to four major tournaments in a row. We tracked down Gustav “S4” Magnusson at the Commerzbank-Arena to talk about Secret’s ethos, fears and plans for the run up to the biggest test of their lives.

“?In the early days we didn't have anything,” Gustav told Red Bull during a break in Secret’s preparation before a quarter final against (new) Fnatic – formerly Team Malaysia. “We were just a team we made together and picked a name: Secret. We had no sponsors or anything, I feel like our team and players are privileged to do this. Before our team was created we had a lot of wins under our belts so we could afford to go out freely and trying something new like this.”

The all-star squad, formed of players from Na`Vi, Alliance and (old) Fnatic in the maelstrom of the post-TI4 shuffle, seemed the stuff dreams were made of. Every player was at the top of their game, often the standout talent on their former teams. But creating a new team from scratch carries problems. From the initial meshing period, where players must adjust to each others’ playstyles, to the hidden organisational costs of eSports.

“Maybe new teams who don't have as much money, they can't really do these things,” S4 admitted. “So it was a bit of a gamble for us, but we knew with the players we were getting we would have a lot of success.”

Success eluded the team, however, for the first few months. Four months in, founding members Tal "Simbaaa" Aizik (AKA Fly) and Johan "BigDaddy" Sundstein (AKA n0tail) left the team, the latter eventually finding a spot on Cloud9's rejigged roster, opening the way for Artour “Arteezy” Babaev and Ludwig “Zai” Wåhlberg to stand in for the Dota 2 Asian Championships. It was here that the team finally started hitting their stride. But despite making it to the semi finals, they were put out by Evil Geniuses in straight sets, while the American team went on to win overall.

“What I told my team – we lost a lot of tournaments where we didn't take first, but got second or third – and I told our team whenever we get this, when we get our first win, we're going to just keep on rolling,” S4 said. “So, as seen, after we won Red Bull the mentality of the team just changed and we played better when it mattered, in the finals. I think we could keep the streak going if we stay focused.”

Red Bull Battle Grounds in May was the first major tournament on the 6.84 patch. As every team struggled to find their feet in the new meta, Secret hit the ground sprinting and haven’t slowed down since. The Summit 3, MarsTV D2L Spring and now ESL One Frankfurt have proven as much, but with a month still to go until The International, S4 isn’t getting complacent.

“We're very scared of if there will be another patch coming out before TI5 and they look at this tournament,” S4 said. “Let's say we win with three heroes we pick every game. Teams can't afford banning heroes against us right now because we have too many, but will they actually nerf some of those heroes we love to play? That's what we're scared of, and that's why we're holding out a little bit in this tournament and not just going all out.”

An hour and a half after our talk, S4 walked out onto a stage in front of thousands of fans who went wild after he and his team drafted Tusk and a last pick Techies. It was one of the most decisive victories of the weekend, with a hero picked only four times previously in this patch. If this is holding back, there are some truly terrifying depths to Secret’s hero pool.

But that isn’t the only thing to be afraid of when it comes to Secret. Of the teams in attendance at Frankfurt, all were either direct invites or qualifiers for The International (bar one Alliance, who have previously won a TI). When asked who he considered to be threats to their success that weekend, S4 replied “EG, only EG.” Secret took the final series against EG 3:1 to win the tournament. Gone are the memories of being beaten 2:0 at DAC.

After beating their stiffest competition, with such a varied hero pool, so close to the biggest tournament of the year, you could forgive S4 for being confident about Secret’s chances this summer. But where you would expect bravado, you find only caution.

“I feel like all the good teams are in this tournament, maybe there's one I'm forgetting right now,” S4 said. “I know LGD are kind of strong and they will be strong against us, that's what I feel. Nothing is assured when it comes to TI, it's still one month away so we've gotta be way more prepared than we are now.”