Resolut1on has not played competitive Dota in 10 months but his performance in Gamers8 Riyadh Masters says otherwise.
On the 2nd day of Gamers8 Riyadh Masters, Team Secret asserted complete dominance. At first, the team handed the local team, Deboosters, the biggest stomp in the tournament so far. But what came next was a mind-blowing victory. Team Secret managed to outplay the most consistent and arguably most powerful team in history, PSG.LGD. If you're wondering how Team Secret had a total switch from a 5th place run in WEU to defeating the best Chinese team.. the answer is Roman "Resolut1on" Fomynok.
The ongoing Riyadh Masters sees the world’s best teams in a LAN setting in the capital city of Saudi Arabia. Alongside the Chinese teams’ first LAN appearance since TI10, we are also seeing other players return from the shadows. This is because a lot of teams came to Riyadh with an incomplete roster from certain issues.
Tundra Esports is missing its offlaner, Neta "33" Shapira, and Team Liquid is filling in Lasse "MATUMBAMAN" Urpalainen's shoes with the retired player, Anathan "ana" Pham. But a stand-in that glows brightly in this Group Stage is Resolut1on, who is filling in for Daryl "iceiceice" Xiang. The Ukrainian offlaner has not played competitive Dota in almost 10 months, but he is back and he is on fire.
A shocking dominance
Team Secret is not quite an underdog but the team hasn't been performing well in the past few seasons. It has missed a Dota 2 Major twice in a row, placing 5th in the Regional Leagues consecutively. But they did not come to the Riyadh Masters in the same form.
On the first day of Group Stage, Secret went head-to-head against Western Europe's strongest team, Tundra Esports. Both teams were handicapped with each fielding a last-minute stand-in - but Secret proved themselves the better contender.
The whole squad was brilliant but the player highlight goes to Resolut1on who scored a total K/D/A of 25/3/42 in the series. He had a good performance on his Dark Seer but an even scarier Dawnbreaker in the 2nd game.
Moving on to the 2nd day of Gamers8 Dota 2, Team Secret continued with their powerful run. They showed no mercy in a series vs Deboosters, disintegrating them in every fight. But all eyes were on their next series vs PSG.LGD.
A Puppey Chen was out, a Zayac Techies was unleashed, and Resolut1on opted for his powerful Dawnbreaker. Team Secret was looking to dominate in style and they delivered. The first game was a killing fiesta and in only 26 minutes, Secret stomped LGD with 44 kills. The 2nd game was a similar show, with Secret outclassing the Chinese giants to finish the game in only 29 minutes. The team is now 3-0 in the Group Stage, leading Group B with 3 victories.
"It's not a coincidence that Secret picked Resolut1on to go along with Zayac," - Ceb
During a panel segment, Sébastien "Ceb" Debs talked about Resolut1on playing for Secret at the Gamers8 event. He believes the 'Resolut1on and Zayac' duo is very strong as they have known each other for a long time. Baqyt "Zayac" Emiljanov, who is also a new addition to the team, following Yazied "YapzOr" Jaradat's break, is also performing incredibly well. Both of them play in the same region and they also have a history together as teammates.
"One thing to mention about how Team Secret are going to come into this tournament is that, the duo of Zayac and Resolut1on.. these two know each other really well and they are very comfortable playing with each other especially as a pos 3 and pos 4," said Ceb.
"I think at their peak, they are probably one of the best if not the best duo for certain months in a row. Obviously they haven't been playing together for a while, but I'm sure that it's not a coincidence that Secret picked Resolut1on to go along with Zayac."
Remember when Resolut1on called himself washed during the all star match at TI10? This day has arrived to debunk his statement. The player is currently the best performing offlaner at Gamers8 Riyadh Masters, scoring the highest among all offlaners in these categories:
- Kills
- Least Death
- Assists
- K/D/A
- GPM
- XPM
- Hero Damage/Minute
- Average Kill Streak Duration in a Match
*Stats by Spectral Stats
It is surprising to see Resolut1on bring such a performance as he had not been playing competitively for a while. He attended TI10 and the Gamers Galaxy Dubai as a panelist and last competed in a tier 3 tournament with HellRaisers in October 2021. But he might just be the key to putting Secret back together as they show great chemistry at the event.