Team Secret Team Preview

The new kings of SAM have arrived, but certainly not without a chaotic run to the major. Starting the split under the banner of Noble Esports, the team momentarily found themselves orgless as Noble self imploded, before finding themselves signed by international superpower Team Secret in their return to RLCS.

Heading into the Winter Split, Noble/Secret were seen as a solid team, having placed 3rd in Fall, missing out on Stockholm by a sole point to eRa Eternity. But come Winter, the team released drufinho from the lineup, and in his place, brought in math.

math’s transfer was a strong move for a wide variety of reasons. First off, math is an incredible player, arguably one of the best in the region, with his mechanical prowess giving him the ability to flip a series on its head. Secondly, math brought some much needed experience to the table, given 16 year old Sadness was in his 2nd season and 15 year old rookie nxghtt in his first, having attended worlds and been at the top of SAM RLCS since its commencement. And finally, his transfer harmed their main competitor, eRa Eternity, where math came from, who were forced to scramble to find a new third.

From the get go, the move seemed to be paying off in great dividends. They ran the gauntlet in regional 1, taking down Furia and eRa themselves on a lower bracket run to 1st, and backed it up with a convincing 2nd in event 2, where they lost just one game against eRa in two matchups to essentially lock themselves in for LA.

The drama leading up to the third event, with the team finding a new organization, clearly made for a difficult time, but the team was still able to show great maturity in their 4th place finish to clinch major qualification, and the SAM #1 seed.

However despite having conquered SAM, international competition is a whole different beast, and it certainly has dealt them a rough hand. With nxghtt and Sadness both on LAN debut, the potential for nerves is extremely high and could leave the team rattled. And this won’t be helped by matchups with BDS, the LA champions, and G2, NA’s second best, awaiting them on stage.

Team Secret’s only real possibility, save a miracle, will come against the European 5 seed EG, but even then, it would be a colossal victory, and overall, LA will likely be more a learning curve for this young, rising team