Clement ‘Puppey’ Ivanov is a 26-year-old Estonian Dota 2 player who is captain and support for Team Secret. Clement is very fluent in English which gave him the advantage to be a part of the best European Dota 2 squads.
Ivanov is capable of handling all positions in the Dota game but mostly he plays jungler and support whenever needed. Sometimes Puppey likes to take risks to experiment even during big tournaments so in this way he is unpredictable in his gameplay.
Apart from gaming, Clement has a musical background; he knows how to play instruments like the clarinet, violin, guitar and saxophone. Ivanov also sang in a choir for twelve years and his dream is that one day he could start his own band.
Where it all began:
Just like every esports player at the time, Ivanov started with pub games. His competitive career started with Xero Skill or better known as team XsK in the summer of 2007. He took part in the very first match ClanBase – EuroCup XVI – WC3 DotA but they did not place well in the tournament. Puppey became more respected among professional players playing his first big match for Na’Vi at The International 2011.
Puppey made a name for himself in the Dota 2 scene with Natus Vincere becoming the team captain after Artsyle left the squad. With Clemet’s help, the dota unit managed to rank in the top three at The International from 2011 till 2013. Due to the poor result in TI4, Puppey left Na’Vi and formed a new unit, Team Secret in August 2014.
The Team:
Team Secret is a European esports organisation that was established in August 2014. In 2016, Secret became sponsors of a female CS:GO unit, WeRunThisPlace that won the ladies’ tournament at the IEM World Championship. Since then the gaming association has expanded to support squads that compete in Dota 2, Rocket League, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds and Rules of Survival: Battle Royale Game.
With Puppey as one of the Team Secret founders and captain, the squad was recognized as one of the best teams in Dota 2. The current roster consists of five professional players, Ace, MidOne, Fata-, Puppey and YapzOr who will continue to compete on the world stage.
Competition Participation:
Clement and his unit beat several famous squads like Evil Genuises at The Summit 2, Virtus.Pro at XMG Captains Draft 2.0, Vici Gaming at Nanyang Dota 2 Championships. Their most recent tournament was last November at Rog Masters, winning over Execration and claiming a prize pool of $71K.
Winnings:
One of the most recent accomplishments for Ivanov was with Team Secret at the Shanghai Major. They had beaten Liquid with an ending result of 3:1, winning a prize pool of a mind-blowing $1.1 million.
Another great achievement for Puppey was with Natus Vincere attending the first of its series, The International 2011. The Final was won by Na’Vi over EHOME, walking away with a whopping $1 million reward.
