Puppey Reveals His Most Thrilling Dota 2 LAN Event

Team Secret captain Clement "Puppey" Ivanov is without a doubt the Dota 2 player who has kept his name intact in the highest echelons of professional Dota 2 for the longest period of time. Throughout his career, which spans over a decade, the 33 year old has faced both triumphs and challenges, but it is undoubtedly the former that dominated his journey. Recently, on Janne "Gorgc" Stefanovski’s Twitch livestream, Puppey was watching the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) 2023 games and reflected on the Dota 2 event when he was the most hyped in his career. As he mentioned, The International 3 (TI3) was when he was the most pumped playing for Natus Vincere (NAVI), as he went on to reminisce about the epic games against Alliance, who ultimately became the champion of the event.

Team Secret's Puppey recalls feeling most pumped at TI3

Puppey joined Gorgc's livestream recently to catch some DPC Western Europe (WEU) 2023 Tour 2 action, notably Old G playing the closed qualifier.

When Gorgc asked Puppey what was the best Dota 2 LAN event Puppey had attended in his career, he highlighted how TI3 was, when he had seen the most stunning Dota 2 at the time. Going down memory lane also made him laugh at some strange Sentry Ward mechanics that existed back then.

“Hard to say, honestly. I feel I felt most hype on TI3 though. Alliance versus us was like - the best Dota I have ever played during that time. I just felt pretty back and forth in that tournament because Alliance was beating us constantly before that. Nobody could beat them basically and split push because it was too f**ked up. Sentry Wards could see Smokes by the way and shit like that. It was just impossible to walk through and get anything done.”

Puppey and Gorgc also recalled the overpowered nature of unlimited Sentry Wards purchasing in Dota 2 back then, which allowed players to plant them all over the map without any limitation.

Alliance was in a league of its own during TI3, dropping just a single game in the group stage to advance to the upper bracket of the playoffs. The squad lost its first game against Team DK in the second round of the upper bracket playoffs before winning 2-1, and then defeating Puppey and his team 3-0 in the upper bracket final.

NAVI put on a show in the grand final, forcing Alliance to battle hard for the first time in the event, but was unable to go all the way, losing 3-2 to hand over TI3’s title to Alliance.

While maintaining a high position in the Dota 2 competitive space for most of his career, Puppey has recently experienced some obstacles. Team Secret's lackluster performance in the DPC WEU 2023 Tour 1: Division I resulted in its relegation to Division II, marking a rough patch for the team. However, with a revamped roster, Team Secret and Puppey will undoubtedly be working hard to reclaim its position in Division I.