Most veterans of the professional Dota 2 scene have retired. But we still have Clement Puppey Ivanov – the eternal captain, who for many is a symbol of the beautiful Dota of years past. For a long time, Ivanov held the record for the most appearances at The International: for 11 consecutive years, he invariably qualified for the main tournament of the season. However, times have changed, and for two consecutive The Internationals, Puppey has been out of the running. And there`s a high probability that the upcoming TI will also pass without the legendary captain. What were Puppey`s recent rosters like, at what point did everything start to go downhill, and what`s the situation with the new roster? We`ll discuss this.
Puppey`s performances at The International have always been quite remarkable and symbolic. Since the founding of Team Secret, Ivanov managed to achieve every possible placement at TI… every placement except first place. What`s more curious is that from 2018 onwards, his placing at TI progressively improved year after year.
And then, just when the community expected one last push from Puppey for that coveted second Aegis, Ivanov missed The International for the first time, and the cycle remained incomplete.
Another interesting coincidence: both times, Ivanov was prevented from reaching The International by essentially the same organization. In 2023, it was Quest Esports, which transformed into PSG Quest at TI itself. And it was PSG Quest that eliminated Secret from the qualifiers for The International 2024.
Let`s go back to The International 2022. A second-place finish for a team that made roster changes just months before the event and qualified through the regional qualifiers was an incredible achievement. It seemed there should be no reason for immediate regression. So how did Puppey`s lineup end up at tier-2 level a year later?
The main reason was the departure of Michał Nisha Jankowski.
And here, several factors are at play:
What can I say about my boy Nisha… We played together for many years, we had many fun moments, trips, and tournaments won. I cherish the time we spent together and fully understand his decision to move on and see more of this world. I wish him all the best and hope his fire continues to burn for many years to come.
Perhaps Nisha is the best I`ve ever played with. Even in the first year, when he just joined us, his Morphling was doing things on the map that I had never seen before. I watched it, and all I could think to myself was: `Okay… Looks like we won` (laughs). Even early on, he was very good.
Nisha… I knew he could play Dota 2 very well. At that time, he hadn`t won anything yet, but I knew from the beginning that if he came here… everything would be fine.
After Nisha`s departure, Ivanov was forced to look for a replacement. BOOM, who had just been kicked from Gladiators, joined Team Secret. To use a CS term, the team lost its firepower, and this was obvious. In addition, there was a noticeable loss of motivation from Resolut1on. And without Nisha, Crystallis`s effectiveness as a semi-core sharply decreased.
As a result, Secret fell into the DPC trap. In the first tour of the new season, the roster finished seventh and left the upper division – in such a situation, making roster changes to strengthen the team is practically impossible. At this point, one could consider the season over for the team, as at best you could only aim for the last major. And even then, although Europe had four slots, the competition that season was extreme: Liquid, Tundra, the surging Gladiators, Entity, Quest, plus OG. And so it happened: in the third season, Secret managed to return to the upper division, only to find themselves in the relegation zone again. How could it be otherwise, when your mid-season reinforcements look like this:
In the following season, the situation only worsened. DPC was gone, replaced by individual championships with regional qualifiers, where you had to fight not for four slots, but for two. In the qualifiers for DreamLeague Season 23, Ivanov`s roster didn`t even climb higher than top-6. And this no longer looked like a sensation; one only needs to look at Secret`s roster and the rosters of their opponents in the qualification.
And it`s hard to blame Puppey here, as his hands were tied in a sense. He could either strengthen the roster with veterans he was already familiar with, like MidOne, or dig up young, inexperienced, but hungry players like Ekki, Shishak, and Kordan. But growing a second Nisha in the fast-paced, highly competitive season conditions didn`t work out for him.
In the qualifiers for The International 2024, Secret`s roster looked like this.
And at this point, no one (perhaps not even Puppey himself) had illusions that Secret would qualify for The International.
Each lost qualification, each missed TI, and each unsuccessful season further reduced the team`s attractiveness to potentially strong players. And while in 2024 some organizers invited Team Secret to their events just for the name`s sake (like 1win Series Dota 2 or FISSURE Universe: Episode 2), in 2025, Puppey`s club often didn`t even receive invites to closed qualifiers.
And gradually Team Secret, through which seimei, 423, Kyzko, Ainkrad had already passed, began to disappear even from the community`s radar. For about two months now, the club hasn`t played official matches at all. Perhaps many wouldn`t even be surprised if Secret quietly missed the upcoming TI qualifiers, and then just as quietly froze their roster. However, according to rumors, a new roster is indeed being prepared, but again, it will differ little from those in the past two years…
…Which means counting on Puppey`s comeback at The International is difficult. The trend suggests that the concept of Team Secret as a roster built around Puppey is likely living its final “days.” It seems Ivanov himself won`t want another season without even one LAN event, or even a decent tier-1.5 league. And most importantly, options to fix the situation for the current Team Secret with its 35-year-old captain are not visible. Perhaps some legendary comeback to the professional scene by veterans like Arteezy, MATUMBAMAN, YapzOr, iceiceice, united under Puppey`s banner, might breathe some life into Secret. But it`s hard to believe such a development will happen. So, perhaps, all that`s left is to prepare for another The International without its main veteran.
Finley Holt