After a 0-2 loss against Nigma Galaxy in a must win series, Team Secret’s fate was sealed. The TI11 runners have been relegated to Division II.
In the past few months, Team Secret have managed to shock us twice. First was in October 2022, when they went all the way from the TI11 Last Chance Qualifier to the grand final, which few would have predicted. And few would have predicted their fall from grace in the first tour of the 2023 DPC season, but that is exactly what has happened. After a 0-2 loss against Nigma Galaxy, Secret ended the WEU Division I DPC League with a series score of 1-6, sealing their place in the bottom two with ITB.
Nigma Galaxy, who were 0-4 after their first four series, have clawed their way back with consecutive wins against OG and Secret to maintain their spot in Division I. They were really feeling themselves in the last two series, and even though the first DPC Major of the season is out of the question, the roster can be a force to reckon with in the 2023 DPC Spring Tour.
The Western European DPC is massively stacked, with the top 3 teams from TI11 hailing from this region. So it isn’t unexpected that some of the top teams will take a tumble once in a while, but few would have predicted Secret’s riches to rags story. The team lost Michal “Nisha” Jankowski to Team Liquid, and with Miroslav “BOOM” Bičan coming in, there was always going to be some time required for the roster to find their rhythm. But it took a bit too long.
It is still early in the season, but the rumor mills have started spitting out names. While it is too early to tell, there won’t be any prizes for guessing that Secret will end up making a change before the Spring Tour begins. An organization so big will want to get back to the top as quickly as possible. The only question that remains to be answered is who goes out and who comes in.
