FANS WHO HAVE WITNESSED the many years of Dota 2's The International will sadly miss a major personality who has been involved since the competition's debut back in 2011.
For the first time in his entire playing career, Clement "Puppey" Ivanov, who won the very first The International with Natus Vincere back in 2011, played in consecutive TIs until reaching the finale with Team Secret in 2022, will not attend this year's festivities as Team Secret only finished 4th in The International 2023 - Western Europe Qualifier.
The qualifier rules state that only the top two in Western Europe can proceed to TI12. One of the teams that pummeled Team Secret in the qualifiers, Entity, will officially proceed to TI12. Entity currently has Filipino player Kim "Gabbi" Santos in their lineup.
Team Secret's loss ends Puppey's record breaking 11-consecutive TI appearances, the most among all players in the tournament's history. He also holds the most grand finals appearances in the tournament, amassing four overall.
He likewise holds the record for being the oldest player to compete in TI history at 32 years old, back in TI11.
Puppey's TI retrospective
After winning it all for NaVi back in TI1, Puppey tried to gun for another title as he alongside fellow Dota 2 legend, Danil "Dendi" Ishutin, aimed for a three peat.
However their chances were thwarted as NaVi lost to both TI finals against China's Invictus Gaming back in 2012, and European rival Alliance in the following year. The latter produced one of the best TI finals spectacle as both NaVi and Alliance went to distance, which even saw one of the most heart pounding finales ever.
After their defeat, Puppey stayed with NaVi however things started spiraling downward for the CIS team as NaVi finished 7th-8th overall in TI4. Eventually Puppey decided to leave the team alongside fellow TI-legend Kuro Salehi "Kuroky" Takhasomi to join Team Secret.
A new beginning, a new journey for Puppey as he alongside Kuroky became the dynamic support duo that led Team Secret's ascent. In TI5 the team was considered to be a major title contender, however some internal disputes between Artour "Arteezy" Babaev and Kuroky led to their demise.
Eventually the team underwent some roster shakeups and slowly ascended afterwards. In TI8 Team Secret finished 5th-6th, then the following season saw them finished 4th. During the COVID-infested TI10, Secret secured a 3rd place finish, then they reached the finale the following season, only for them to lose to Tundra Esports.
Some remained hopeful and made theories that Team Secret will win TI12 based on the pattern of their previous TI appearances, but given the team's recent exit, all hopes are now extinguished.
And given Puppey's absence, perhaps we might see him as a special guest for TI12.
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