Clement "Puppey" Ivanov is a veteran of competitive Dota, one of the strongest and most respected players in the esports industry. Here's the story of Puppey becoming one of the greatest representatives of the competitive Dota scene.
Carier start
Clement started his career long before he entered a professional team. Puppey often spent time at computer clubs when they were still at their peak.
Puppey started his career with the first version of Dota and got his first team in 2007. This team was XsK. After playing there for a year, he left the team. In 2008, he formed the Ks.Int team with KuroKy, his best friend in e-sports. The team existed for a year, and in 2009 it merged. From the second half of 2009 to February 2010 he played for Blight.Int. He didn't reach great heights and moved to Nirvana. But even there the player did not stay for over a year. In 2010 he joined the NOW team and in January 2011 he moved to GosuGamers.
GosuGamers was the last team for Puppey in the first Dota. In 2011, he moves to Natus Vincere.
Natus Vincere and the best team in the world
In June 2011, Puppey becomes a NaVi player. In August of the same year, Valve announced the first championship of The International series. Being in good shape, Natus Vincere won The International 2011. Puppey, along with teammates for NaVi 2011, becomes world champion and the best player in the world. But NaVi doesn't stop there either.
In 2012, the team became champions in 6 prestigious tournaments at that time. The team is approaching the second The International as a clear favourite. Natus Vincere, led by Puppey, shows a decent level of play, losing only in the grand final. Thus, Puppey and the team became the first to play in two consecutive finals. The year 2013 has arrived.
In 2013, Natus Vincere is still one of the best teams. Throughout the year, they won 7 major tournaments of that time. The team also goes to a bootcamp in China, where they train with local teams. At The International 2013, the team shows the highest level of play and understanding of Dota. It's Puppey, paired with Dendi, who opens a bug with a hook to the fountain. Later, this feature has been removed from the game.
Nevertheless, all the resource protection and high levels of play did not help NaVi win the final. At TI3, the team again took second place. After 2013, the team starts to decline. Before International 4, the team wins StarLadder StarSeries Season 8 and Dota 2 Champions League Season 2. At TI4, Puppey and the team managed to reach TOP 7-8. At the end of the championship, Puppey leaves Natus Vincere and creates his own organisation - Team Secret.
Team Secret and personal achievements
Puppey created Team Secret in August 2014. In its first year, the team showed rather mediocre results. But since 2015, Team Secret has gained momentum.
In 2015, they became silver medallists of the Frankfurt Major 2015. The team also performs well at lower-tier tournaments. In March 2013, Puppey won a major tournament for the first time in a long time. It was the Shanghai Major 2016. Then begins a period of slight decline. At The International 2017, the team sensationally leaves the championship in 9-12 place. After that, the team was able to rehabilitate and win the DreamLeague Season 8 in December 2017.
In 2018, Puppey and his team won DreamLeague Season 9. Secret also takes 4th place in the China Dota2 Supermajor.
At The International 2018, the team stays at 5-6
The new 2018-2019 season starts for Puppey and Secret with small tournaments. The first significant result was 2nd place at The Kuala Lumpur Major 2018.
Since 2019, Secret has gained form and become one of the best teams in the world. In January 2019, the team wins The Chongqing Major, a month later they win ESL One Katowice 2019. In March 2019, they take 4th place at DreamLeague Season 11, after which they win the MDL Disneyland Paris Major 2 months later.
In June 2019, they become ESL One Birmingham Champions. At The International 2019, Puppey and his team take 4th place.
After TI9, the team continues to dominate the PRO scene. In January, they won DreamLeague Season 13. Since the pandemic began, the team has become champions of five consecutive tournaments and also won the Gamers Without Borders 2020 charity showcase.
Puppey has earned over $2,804,000 in prize money throughout his career. In the period from 2012 to 2015, he repeatedly became the best support player and captain according to the GosuAwards 2012 community.
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