Puppey to Reportedly Play for Team SMG at TI12

Just when the rumor about Team Secret's captain Clement "Puppey" Ivanov joining 9Pandas as a coach at The International 12 (TI12) was fading out, Eastern European Telegram outlet CYBERSLOVO reported that the player would be playing for Team SMG at the event. In this case, Puppey will replace Jaunuel "Jaunuel" Arcilla, who currently occupies the position five spot for SMG. Puppey failed to qualify for his 12th TI in a row when Secret was eliminated from the qualifiers a few months ago, but playing for SMG will help him keep the all-TI streak going. As of yet, neither SMG nor Puppey has confirmed this.

AFK Gaming has not been able to independently verify this report.

Puppey might play position five for Team SMG at TI12

At TI12, Puppey will join former teammate Yeik "MidOne" Nai Zheng's Team SMG, according to CYBERSLOVO. In this case, the roster for SMG at the tournament will consist of the following members.

1. Yeik “MidOne” Nai Zheng

2. Volodymyr “No[o]ne” Minenko

3. Natthaphon “Masaros” Ouanphakdee

4. Tue “ah fu” Soon Chuan

5. Clement "Puppey" Ivanov

Meanwhile, Ukrainian Dota 2 caster Oleksii "STORM" Tumanov on 25th Sept 2023 had shared a similar speculation while also explaining why he believed the 33 year old might become a candidate for SMG.

Puppey, according to STORM, had very few options left for him to play at TI12 in Seattle, USA, and when combined with the fact that Jaunuel was not able to obtain a visa for the PGL Arlington Major last year, SMG and Puppey were likely to collaborate.

After recently inviting a veteran from Eastern Europe in the form of No[o]ne, which resulted in a first place performance in the regional qualifiers, welcoming one of the best players ever to play the game in the form of Puppey may make SMG one of the scariest teams at TI12.

Furthermore, at present, the team does not have a coach, and MidOne who does not have the most extensive drafting experience, being responsible for drafting so far, bringing in a natural captain in Puppey will provide a massive boost in this direction. Puppey and MidOne have played together for three years in the past for Secret, so it should not take long to reestablish the chemistry.

Puppey's fans have been excitedly discussing various speculations regarding his involvement in TI12, hoping that at least one of them turns out to be true so they actually get to witness him at the tournament for the 12th time in a row.