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Puppey on revamping Team Secret: "I'm working on it"
Team Secret has not had a fantastic season since placing as the runner-up at The International 2022. Despite going through some roster shuffles, the team failed to meet expectations and did not qualify for The International for two consecutive years.
Recently, the team's founder and in-game leader, Clement "Puppey" Ivanov, decided to disband Team Secret. He is currently playing as a stand-in for his former team, Natus Vincere, at PGL Wallachia Season 2.
However, Puppey is not the only stand-in for NAVI at the tournament. Despite having multiple stand-ins, the team successfully qualified for the playoffs. In a recent interview at PGL Wallachia Season 2, Puppey discussed his future plans for Team Secret and explained why he is currently playing as a stand-in for NAVI.
Puppey: "I'm trying to find new talent"
Puppey won the inaugural The International (TI) when it debuted, playing for Natus Vincere (NAVI), and has reached the TI grand finals four times. Additionally, he is one of the few players who has remained active since the first International.
Being in the field for such a long time, Puppey had learnt what it takes to build a successful team. In his recent interview, Puppey revealed what he has in store for Team Secret and why the revamp version of the team is taking some time.
"I'm working on it – it's hard. It's not that easy to pack five people right away from the roster 'cause I disbanded the whole roster. Usually, there's some building blocks. This is basically, like a straight-up new team to make, and most of the teams already had their options made right after TI or during TI – even before TI. 33 join Liquid, he knew he was gonna leave that team – I'm pretty sure that's what happened, but some people planned it beforehand a lot, and even after TI ended, it was still hard to make a team."
Puppey is also known for identifying upcoming talent in the professional Dota 2 scene. One of the most notable examples is Michał "Nisha" Jankowski. Puppey recognized Nisha's potential while he was playing for Team Kinguin and brought him to Team Secret.
Puppey on his Dota 2 passion and standing-in for NAVI
Puppey has been a part of the Dota 2 professional scene since its inception, and he continues to stay involved. Despite rumours of him taking a break after The International 2024, he has not stepped away from the game.
In a recent interview, Puppey shared his decision not to take a temporary break and his thoughts on playing at NAVI again.
" It feels awkward to try to play Dota professionally and also not play professionally. I know a lot of people take breaks and they sit around and they just chill a little bit. Sometimes, it doesn't work out for them – most of the time, it doesn't work out for them. I don't want to take a break if I want to keep playing Dota. If I want to keep playing Dota, I will keep playing it and if there's an opportunity for me to stand in and do some stuff like that, I will try it. It's not easy to actually stand-in when you're trying to be in a team, which is also having three stand-ins. It's just a completely new mixed team, it's like we just opened up battle cup and said like who wants to play you know. I just wanted to play, see how it goes and that's it."
Puppey on NAVI's chances at PGL Wallachia Season 2
NAVI's roster for PGL Wallachia Season 2 includes three stand-ins, one of whom is Puppey. Notably, Puppey has previously played with one of the NAVI players, Baqyt "Zayac" Emiljanov and he also shared some time with Miroslav "BOOM" Bičan, one of the stand-ins during their time together at Team Secret.
"We're doing alright. I think it's still hard to beat teams like Falcons, but I think we can manage a game or two out of them. Overall, it's still very hard to kind of outplay the greatest of teams. I don't think we have been playing the strongest of teams in this tournament for now in these group stages and so far it's you know our ideas are working out. Hopefully, there will be a new layer of ideas that are working out for us."
With the playoffs of PGL Wallachia Season 2 starting soon, be sure to tune into Strafe for the latest coverage of all the action at the tournament.
Featured Image Source: PGL
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