February 26, 2021

DOTA 2

Esport Legends – Puppey

Clement “Puppey” Ivanov is one of the all-time greats in the Dota 2 world. His rise to the top begins in the WarCraft 3-era of Dota. This is the story of the Estonian esports legend.

Team Secret is THE team to beat right now and has been for close to a year now. Under Puppey’s leadership Secret looks poised to take the first Major of 2021 with ease as they dominated the European region, only dropping three maps against one of the strongest regions.

Thanks for watching yet another clean run from Puppey and the boys, see you at the Singapore Major 👋🖤#SecretDota pic.twitter.com/jjQINrGQtZ

— Team Secret (@teamsecret) February 24, 2021

Secret and Puppey are without a doubt standing right on top of the game, but where and when did Puppey’s rise to one of Dota’s legends start?

In the misty beginnings of Dota – Kingsurf.International

It all began way back in 2007, when Puppey, then a fresh-faced 17 year old, joined his first competitive team in Dota’s WarCraft 3-era: Xero Skill (XsK)
While XsK did not bring home any trophies, they could compete with what was then Europe’s top dogs MeetYourMakers. The first solid foundation for Puppey’s career was the team that followed after: KingSurf International

KS.int and its successor teams (Nirvana.int, NWO, GosuGamers) would go on to dominate the fading years of Dota’s competiton until Puppey was recruited by Natus Vincere. KS.int was not only the team that catapulted him to the top of the Dota world, it also was his fateful meeting with Kuro Salehi “KuroKy” Takhasomi. One of the remarkable “bromances” that have lasted throughout Dota’s history.

Puppey at ESWC 2010 — Anyone else remember long-haired Puppey in 2010? | Image Credit: PsychoXGS

While Puppey and Kuro played together in all those years, Puppey decided to join the newly forming Natus Vincere at the twilight of Dota and was therefore part of the very first championship roster at The International in 2010.

Donning the Black and Yellow – Natus Vincere

The newly formed Natus Vincere was marked out right at the beginning as a contender as they combined some of the best Western players in one team. But even the most optimistic would not have guessed that Na`Vi would go on to define an entire era of Dota.

Adapting the quickest to the new era heralded by Valve and Dota 2, Natus Vincere crushed their opposition at the first International in Cologne, taking home the then unprecedented number of one million US-Dollar.

Natus Vincere at The International 2010 — Natus Vincere win the very first The International in 2011

Following their success Puppey stepped into the full limelight as Na`Vi’s previous captain ArtStyle stepped down. Taking over the Estonian quickly earned a reputation as one of the best captains of the scene as Natus Vincere dominated the entire competition throughout the year. As the second International rolled around, Puppey & Co. solidified their hold on the scene by storming all the way to a consecutive Grand Finals appearance. While they were unable to overcome Invictus Gaming, TI2 is still mostly remembered for one legendary Na`Vi moment: “The Play”

After TI2 Puppey also reunited with long-time friend KuroKy as the German star joined in 2013 together with Funn1k to replace LighTofHeaveN and Smile. Their reunion led Natus Vincere to even further heights as the team managed a third straight The International Grand Finals appearance in 2013 against Alliance.

Once again Natus Vincere fell just short of taking a second Aegis home and it marked the beginning of a long and gradual decline that saw Puppey depart Na`Vi together with KuroKy in 2014 after a disappointing eighth place at TI4.

More Dota 2:

Constructing a Juggernaut – Team Secret

Puppey’s departure from what had been his Dota home for years sent ripples throughout the scene as the rumors about a new superteam steadily grew louder. The Estonian had set out on an ambitious journey. Constructing his own team to improve on where Natus Vincere had failed. The goal was clear, win another The International to cement his legacy in Dota 2.

The newly founded Team Secret proved to be exactly what fans had been hoping for as it not only featured KuroKy but also N0tail, Fly and s4 in what seemed to be an insane all-star lineup. They never quite lived up to that reputation until they snatched EG’s starplayers zai and Arteezy in what was to become the “superteam” of 2015. Going on to crush several LANs Puppey’s squad entered The International 5 as the clear favorites to take it all.

Team Secret at TI5 | Image Credit: Valve

The Hazards of TI – Lack of Team Chemistry

As with many all-star teams in history, Team Secret’s performance at The International 2015 proved to be uninspiring as they were eliminated early on in the Top 8. Their lackluster result would result in Puppey and KuroKy splitting up as the German left the team to found his own project which would later turn into Team Liquid and the current Nigma.

The following years saw Puppey try again and again to find the winning formula that could earn that elusive second TI title. Changing players often, Secret became quite infamous for roster moves at the blink of an eye, but lasting success at The International continued to elude Puppey’s teams. Success at Majors notwithstanding, TI6 and 7 ended in early eliminations outside the Top 8 once more. Many of the roster changes were also far from pretty.

After EternalEnvy was removed Puppey’s reputation took quite a hit as videos of anger outbursts made the rounds together with leaked chat messages and more.

While the airing of dirty laundry in public did not help in building another team capable of taking the Aegis, it seems to have sparked a change in Puppey along with the lack of success in building teams out of starplayers.

Nurturing young talents to make it further

While the overarcing goal of winning a second TI has not changed, Puppey’s Secret has undergone a remarkable transition from its beginnings.

Now Secret is no longer just an all-star team but also proving ground for young talents to shine and reach their full potential under the tutelage of Puppey. Most prominent examples are Yapz0r and Nisha, who both joined Secret as promising prospects to become the world-class players they are right now.

Being one of the “old guard” in the scene as a veteran from the “Dota 1” days, Puppey has transformed himself from starplayer to mentor. He is a player that learned from the past and tries to teach those lessons to his teammates over the years.

This new approach to building teams and guiding them forwards as captain has paid in handsome dividends as TI8 saw Secret reach the Top 6, while the year after Puppey made it back into the Top 4. While another Aegis is still eluding Puppey, he still holds the distinction of being one of only two players (the other is KuroKy) to have attended every single TI to this day.

A new era of dominance?

Secret is now standing at the very top of the Dota world and has been so arguably since last year already. They not only won the last Major before the COVID19-pandemic halted the Dota Pro Circuit, Secret went on to conquer a record-breaking eight tournaments in a row during the online era. This momentum has carried over into the new year and the long-awaited restart of the DPC.

“It’s 2020, no DPC no TI, it doesn’t matter, Secret not that strong anyway”

2021: pic.twitter.com/plduetXkrc

— Team Secret (@teamsecret) February 24, 2021

Utterly dominating the stacked region of Europe, Secret are once again the favorites to take the upcoming Singapore Major. Secret is the gold standard every team has to measure itself against and most are found wanting.

It is a testament of Puppey’s leadership and skill that he has maintained his spot in the very top of the Dota scene for more than 10 years by now. That perseverance and growth throughout the years is why he is a legend of Dota and esports.