Puppey Dissects TI12 Failure: What Went Wrong?

Team Secret veteran Clement “Puppey” Ivanov opened up about his team’s failed TI12 campaign in a recent interview

Captain of Team Secret, Clement “Puppey” Ivanov, recounted his first-ever setback in the pursuit of The International slot during an interview with Cybersport.ru. In this conversation, he shed light on his enduring commitment to Dota 2, Secret’s TI12 disappointment, analyzed the demanding nature of the current season, and shared insights into how age has molded his personality.

Below, you'll find the key takeaways from the interview. Please note that these quotes may vary slightly due to the translation from Russian. For the original interview, you can visit this link.

Puppey Blames Offlane Struggles for Secret’s TI12 Qualification Failure

During the interview, Puppey was questioned about Team Secret's underwhelming performance in their bid to qualify for TI12. The Estonian, who had been a part of all eleven previous iterations, pointed out that the shortcomings in their offlane position had a significant and costly impact on their campaign.

The International no longer has any All-Timers. That legacy will end with 11 consecutive appearances from Puppey. #TI12 #Dota2 pic.twitter.com/8lOYIbRDZ7

— Wykrhm Reddy (@wykrhm) August 31, 2023

“I would say that we played very poorly. Our laning did not go as it should. I would say that we should have won Quest Esports with a score of 2:0. We should have won the first map, but things didn't go as well as we should have in the offlane. So it kind of slowed the game down. But even taking this into account, we had opportunities to win. One time we wiped them out, and we had to do something about it, but in the end, we did nothing.”

Puppey added that Secret’s overcautious approach did not pay off against Quest.

“Yes, people are careful. Dota is a game where you have to do things right (laughs) . And in every situation there is only one correct action that you can take, well, maybe two. There may be 20-25 wrong things.

“At the same time, you must not only correctly determine the correct actions, but also react quickly. If you don’t immediately realize the situation, then you are slow, and if you are slow, you always don’t get some extra kill – you’re missing some three seconds. Three seconds were not enough here, then six are already there, ten are already there – everything adds up. And so you gave away Roshan, some kind of tower, then your carry was killed because he played slowly… It turns into a snowball.”

The Team Secret Captain Believes It would not have been Easier to Qualify for TI12 Outside the WEU Region

Credit: @teamsecret

Puppey expressed his belief that securing a TI12 slot might not have been less challenging for his team had they competed in a region other than Western Europe, where the competition is notably fierce.

He noted that strong competition exists in both China and the CIS regions. The TI1 champion believes that Secret would have had a “50-50” chance in the SEA region. He also thinks the South American region would have been the easiest choice, considering that both South American powerhouses, Evil Geniuses and beastcoast, have already secured qualification for the main event.

“I would say that maybe we would have lost in China and maybe we could have lost in the CIS too. We could probably make it through the rest of the qualifiers, yes. Well, in SEA you never know how well they are playing. You always think it's simple, but it's not. So it’s also 50/50, but it’s possible. It’s also difficult in China.

“There are three regions where they still show good Dota. Of course, there are still these two good teams in South America, but they are already at TI. Others, I would say, are much weaker. There were two slots this time, so of course it would have been easier there.”

Puppey’s Teammates Took It Harder after Team Secret Dropped Out of the TI12 Qualification Race

There will be no Team Secret at TI12.

End of the road for us. Sorry to disappoint you all.

Thank you for believing in us until the end 🫶 pic.twitter.com/XegVmbTjk6

— Team Secret (@teamsecret) August 31, 2023

Puppey described the initial reaction of the team after their defeat to Quest Esports, which ended their TI12 aspirations.

“I believe that they (Puppey’s teammates) felt a higher level of pressure because not only did they miss out on The International, but they also lost the match that would have allowed me to attend all TIs, (laughs)”

“In fact, I do not care. This is life, this happens. Once upon a time, in any case, you had to lose and miss TI. This could have happened last year, and at TI7, and maybe even at TI6. So there was a possibility that I would miss TI before. But it happened now.

“After we lost, I just said, “Well, it’s okay. Go emo,” and that’s it. There's nothing to talk about here. It is clear that we played poorly. But this is Dota, we have already lost. Before that we also lost, in other matches it’s the same.”