Secret rally, stay unbeaten at ESL One L.A. Europe

Team Secret fought back to beat Chicken Fighters 2-1 on Saturday and remain the only unbeaten team in Group B at the Europe-Commonwealth of Independent States region of the Dota 2 ESL One Los Angeles Online event. Chicken Fighters claimed the opener of the best-of-three series in 43 minutes, the first game Secret has dropped in the event after they swept their first three matches. But Secret responded with wins of 38 minutes and 25 minutes to take the series and improve to 4-0.

In other Group B matches Saturday, Team Spirit (3-1) moved into sole possession of second place in the group by rallying 2-1 past Team Liquid (0-4); Ninjas in Pyjamas (2-2) battled back for a 2-1 victory over Natus Vincere (2-2); and Alliance (2-2) fought off Team Unique (1-3) for a 2-1 win. Spirit dropped a 51-minute opening game to Liquid but rallied with wins of 31 minutes and 40 minutes.

NiP's comeback required even more effort. After they lost the opening game in 41 minutes, NiP survived a 94-minute battle to level the series and closed out Na'Vi with a 32-minute victory. Alliance see-sawed past Unique, taking the first game in 55 minutes and the last in 27, sandwiching a 35-minute loss in the second game.

The original ESL One Los Angeles event was altered due to the coronavirus pandemic, moving to an online format and splitting into five regional competitions. The other four regions (North America, South America, China and Southeast Asia) have already completed their tournaments. The $200,000 Europe-CIS region features 16 teams -- 15 direct invites and qualifier Chicken Fighters -- split into two groups that are fighting for eight total playoff spots. After the round-robin group stage, the top two teams from each group will advance to the upper bracket, with the third- and fourth-place teams heading to the lower bracket.

Each group will be in action every other day through April 16, with Group A playing its fourth round Sunday: Gambit Esports vs. B8

Nigma vs. HellRaisers OG vs. Virtus.pro

Vikin.gg vs. Cyber Legacy ESL One Los Angeles Online Europe-CIS standings through Saturday (map record in parentheses):

Group A 1. Virtus.pro: 4-0 (8-2)

2. OG: 3-1 (7-3) T3. HellRaisers: 2-2 (6-5)

T3. Team Nigma: 2-2 (4-5) T3. Vikin.gg: 2-2 (4-5)

T6. Gambit Esports: 1-3 (4-6) T6. B8: 1-3 (4-7)

T6. Cyber Legacy: 1-3 (3-7) Group B

1. Team Secret: 4-0 (8-1) 2. Team Spirit: 3-1 (7-5)

T3. Alliance: 2-2 (6-6) T3. Chicken Fighters: 2-2 (6-6)

T3. Ninjas in Pyjamas: 2-2 (5-6) T3. Natus Vincere: 2-2 (5-6)

7. Team Unique: 1-3 (5-7) 8. Team Liquid: 0-4 (3-8)

--Field Level Media