Cover-Credits:
- KuroKy and Puppey talked about the time they spent in the original Team Secret roster that had N0tail, s4 and Fly.
- KuroKy talked highly of the caliber of each of the five members of the Secret 1.0 roster, mentioning that it was not a surprise seeing each one of them succeed in their own teams.
- Both KuroKy and Puppey also expressed their opinions on the captain role in Dota 2.
KuroKy and Puppey, two famed captains of the Dota 2 competitive scene, talked about the time they spent in the original Team Secret roster that had other seasoned veterans, Johan "N0tail" Sundstein, Gustav "s4" Magnusson, and Tal "Fly" Aizik. In the interview before the series between Team Nigma and Team Secret in the EU 2021 DPC Season 2: Upper Division, Clement "Puppey" Ivanov appreciated the leadership of KuroKy and N0tail and mentioned that the members of Secret 1.0 would spend hours on learning the game. Kuro "KuroKy" Salehi Takhasomi then talked highly of the caliber of each of the five members of the Secret 1.0 roster, mentioning that it was not a surprise seeing each one of them succeed in their own teams.
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KuroKy and Puppey speak about the members of the original Team Secret roster
KuroKy and Puppey were the founding members of Team Secret in 2014. They had then invited Fly, N0tail, and S4, as the five players had stuck together in the team for a brief period before leaving for their own new paths. Only Puppey had stuck with Secret and has played for the team ever since.
In the interview before Secret’s loss against Nigma, Puppey talked about how the members of the Secret 1.0 roster used to devote a lot of time to figure out various aspects of the game.
“Kuro, N0tail - really good captains. We have spent so much time together when we were in Team Secret together. Just talking about Dota, just figuring it out constantly without even pausing. At 5 AM we were like, we have got a game in three hours.”
KuroKy, in the post-match winners’ interview, was asked about the evolution of each of the five Secret 1.0 members into successful captains. N0tail now captains OG, S4 is the leader of Alliance and Fly captains Evil Geniuses. KuroKy mentioned that there was nothing “very crazy” about this fact as all of the five players were unique and special.
“For Puppey and myself, I mean can’t really speak for him, but pretty sure it’s not very crazy. One reason we chose these players exactly is they are very unique players, they are special players and they are gonna stay in the scene for a long time. We thought this was gonna be the best team of all time, and I think we were for a period of time. So, we kinda knew, we knew who N0tail is, who Fly is, S4, we kinda knew what these players are capable of. So it’s more like ‘what’s meant to be, happens’ more than anything else.”
Image Via Evany Chang
KuroKy and Puppey Talk About the Captain Role in Dota 2
The two veteran captains, KuroKy and Puppey, also opined on the captain role in Dota 2, talking about the virtues and quality a person needs to grow into a successful leader. According to Puppey, the player that understands and thinks about Dota the most is a solid fit for the captain role.
“Well, being a captain of a Dota team, for me, it’s just respecting the game a lot, so people magnify towards you, you know. A lot of people - they don’t want to be captains, actually. But I think the guy that respects Dota the most in a team just becomes the captain, in any team I have been at least. When you know better than your teammates, you kind of have to say it. Whatever you are saying probably makes a lot of sense, more sense than theirs, because you spend more effort into thinking what is right and what is wrong and stuff like that, not just by feel. But the feeling is very important, of course, you can’t just open a book of Dota and be like “I know what’s good.”
Mostly, these very good Dota players/captains know how to read the room because we have failed so many times like we can’t just fail the next time. So, we are constantly just adapting. Dota is a game of adaptation anyway so stuff like this, all the time, happens, and I think reading the room is very important.”
As per KuroKy, the captain is the person who looks after his team and pushes for a proper balance between being tough and lenient. Like Puppey, KuroKy also believes the captain should know how to read the room’s mood and know what his players need.
“The leader is a people’s guy. That’s how I see it. The leader brings out the best in his players or whatever team you are leading in any facet of life. I believe that’s just the leader’s job. I think it’s a crappy job, but someone has to do it (grins).
You got to know when to be firm. At the end of the day, people trust you to make hard decisions and can’t let them down. Sometimes, you need to do what is right. You got to make hard decisions. Sometimes you got to be a bit tough. If you just praise people, they get a false sense of what’s going on. If you are too tough all the time, if you are just hitting their hands, things go to crap right away, and it doesn’t work at all.
It’s about finding a balance, reading the room. So a lot of it is always about who you are dealing with, who you are playing with, adjusting to the person, adjusting to the personality, finding the right balance.”
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It is intriguing to witness all of Secret 1.0 members - KuroKy, Puppey, S4, N0tail and Fly growing into successful and respected captains in the Dota 2 competitive scene. While Fly is the only one playing in a different region, it is a treat to watch the other four members brawl in the European circuit.
