South America is often considered one of the weakest, if not the weakest regions for competitive Dota 2. They just haven't been able to hold a candle to Chinese/Asian Dota, European/CIS Dota or even North American Dota, which, despite a few gems, doesn't routinely succeed at official tournaments.
So, when Brazilian Dota 2 team SG e-Sports was to face off against Team Secret, one of the best European Dota teams around, in round one of the Kiev Major, it was considered a formality. SG e-sports was just happy to be there. After all, this is a Brazilian team whose most recent tournament win was a Brazil-only tournament with a grand prize of $995. Before that, they had won a respectable $10,000 in WESG 2016, but still a far cry from the success enjoyed by any one of the other 15 teams at the Kiev Major
This idea was bolstered after the Group Stage, where Team Secret pulled off one of the most dominant performances of the tournament, never dropping a single round, let alone a game, and securing the number one seed. As the top seed, they earned the right to play against the lowest seed, which belonged to SG e-Sports. This is the team that carries with it household Dota 2 names such as Puppey, once part of the International-winning Na'Vi squad.
SG e-Sports had a much harder time in the Group Stage. Not only did they not win a single match, they only managed to win one round in all of those matches. Again, they were just happy to be there.
Round one went about as everyone expected. Team Secret rolled them in a complete stomp. It's not uncommon for a team to drop round two of a best-of-three. Maybe they're trying something different, or getting cute, or getting over confident, because they have that third game. If this was the case for Team Secret, it was clearly a grave mistake.
After SG e-Sports took game two, they had a long back-and-forth affair in game three. The Brazilian team proved brash, taunting their opponents early and often, causing the commentators to wonder if this would have a tilting effect on Team Secret. No one is quite sure how it happened, exactly, SG e-Sports would go on to stun Team Secret in a war of attrition.
Though they weren't the favorites going into the tournament, Team Secret's acquisition of the number-one seed had many believing that they would go all the way, but they went home in the first round, falling at the hands of a team that has won, in total, just over $11,000 USD in their entire careers. Many are calling this the biggest upset in Dota 2 history, and I'd be hard-pressed to find a better example.
SG e-Sports has now secured themselves at least 8th place in the Kiev Major, which earns them $125,000, more than 10 times their all-time Dota 2 earnings. Whether they will be able to parlay that success into further winnings remains to be seen. They have a long tournament ahead of them, with their next round against Evil Geniuses. A formidable opponent, yes, but I'm sure SG e-Sports feels like they can take on anyone.
