Puppey’s back to being a Dota 2 underdog and he’s loving it: ‘No expectations’

It was far from the successful 2023 that legendary Dota 2 captain Clement “Puppey” Imanov had hoped for, especially after missing his first TI after eleven-straight appearances—but he couldn’t be happier to begin the 2024 season with the underdog tag.

Team Secret welcomed back two familiar faces to its Dota 2 roster for the 2024 season. BOOM and MidOne’s return to the team disappointed the fans, however, as they were considered not up to Secret’s standards. That doesn’t seem to be affecting Puppey, revealing he’s quite fond of playing without expectations.

When it came down to the overall power level of rosters, Puppey expressed that he “didn’t give a shit” about playing in the “weakest” roster on ESL One’s Dota 2 podcast. The former TI all-timer believed having a weaker team was advantageous as competitors would often overlook what you’d be doing. “[A] weaker roster is good because nobody cares what you’re doing and there are no expectations,” Puppey said.

With lower expectations burdening Secret, the team finally found room to fail and learn through mistakes. In the previous years, Secret has always been on a timer with the DPC, as bombing out at any time of the year would mean instant death for the team’s chances of directly qualifying for TI. In 2023, Secret fell from grace as they got relegated to Division Two, with the team unable to recover in time for subsequent Majors or the pinnacle Dota 2 tournament in Seattle.

Considering Secret was coming off a second-place finish at TI 2022, many were shocked to watch the roster crumble. Following the disappointing results, roster changes took place, but each roster shuffle ended with Secret drawing the short end of the stick. When MidOne and BOOM, two players that Secret kicked in previous years, returned to the team, many counted them out almost immediately.

Unexpectedly, Secret rose to the occasion at ESL One Kuala Lumpur qualifiers as they took out Entity and OG to snatch a spot at the tournament, where they locked in a top-eight finish and placed higher than other rosters who, on paper, threatened to win the event.

With Valve ending the DPC and third-party organizers taking the reins, Secret will take advantage of having a more diverse Dota 2 calendar where there will be small rooms for error and unlimited growth potential. We’re likely to see Puppey and Secret return to the server for ESL’s first Pro Tour event DreamLeague Season 22 in February.