Team Secret gets sent back to Division II

At the end of Tour 1 of Dota Pro Circuit 2023, Team Secret was relegated to Division II after a disastrous performance. Some roster changes followed and Clement “Puppey” Ivanov decided to bring in some Southeast Asian players.

These players proved to be decent but their skills were only tested in Division II. Secret got promoted after a 6 W – 1 L run in Tour 2 and looked strong enough to at least survive Division I in Tour 3. But that didn’t happen. Puppey’s team registered a 1 W – 6 L record in this division and got sent back to Division II.

Right now, we don’t know what Puppey will do. Is he interested in continuing to play Dota 2? He’s 33 years old. At his age, most professional players are already retired. What distinguishes him is his enthusiasm for the game and his willingness to play in a lower-skilled division.

We’ve seen a similar attitude in the case of his good friend, Kuro “KuroKy” Takhasomi, who’s also 30+ years old and struggling to win the way he used to.

What can Secret do

It’s pretty clear that Secret need to completely change their roster again and bring back some serious players like Yazied “YapzOr” Jaradat, who has been inactive for a year. He’s not the only former superstar who doesn’t have a team.

In other parts of the world, players like Vladimir “RodjER” Nikogosian are mostly wasting their talent competing for low-skilled teams that have no hope of winning anything important.

Another former Secret player, Yeik “MidOne” Nai Zheng, has been struggling for several years in Southeast Asia. Since he left Team Secret and then OG, he hasn’t done anything significant.

The peak of his last several years was the 15^th – 16^th place he got at ESL One Berlin Major. For a player who used to win Majors back in 2019, this must be quite depressing. And it’s not his fault at all. His individual skills are exceptional and it’s obvious that he still loves the game.

But without a captain who can guide him and find winning strategies, he has no way to win. If Puppey is serious about continuing his Dota 2 career, he should probably consider bringing back some of the players he helped to develop. Secret went from a team full of legends in 2022 to a team in which Puppey is the only star.

Header: Team Secret