As the Dota 2 competitive calendar begins to ramp up ahead of The International’s return to Seattle, all eyes are turning to the Riyadh Masters 2023 with teams worldwide looking to lock in a slot for the prestigious $15 million USD event. While the top Dota 2 squads have had a clear path leading to Riyadh, Team Secret and captain Clement “Puppey” Ivanov had to think outside of the box.
Secret has been struggling to stay afloat in 2023 with the team falling out of Dota Pro Circuit’s Division One twice this year, meaning they’ve failed to attend a major event this season. This was to be the case for Riyadh Masters 2023 as well, but Puppey decided to assemble a task force and go undercover for the Middle East and North Africa Qualifiers.
Dubbed “Team Secret Middle East”, Puppey’s MENA roster was initially leaked by streamer Janne “Gorgc” Stefanovski on July 19. Puppey only brought Remco “Crystallis” Arets from Secret for this “mission”, with the duo accompanied by regional pubstars Anas “MagE-” Hirzallah, Mohammad “AfrOmoush” Eis, and former Secret star Yazied “YapzOr” Jaradat.
Team Secret ME successfully navigated the open qualifier but now must contend with a final playoff against two other Western European DPC squads Quest Esports and Nigma Galaxy to qualify for Riyadh. These two teams were directly invited to the MENA qualifiers as they already had players from the region this season.
Related: Dota 2 Riyadh Masters: All teams, prize pool, and how to watch
Since Puppey’s greatest competitive record is in danger after Team Secret’s fumble in the 2023 season, the TI all-timer has been trying to go that extra mile to salvage the most out of this season. While attending Riyadh Masters 2023 without his main squad may look less than ideal, even flunking out of the event will put $50,000 USD into Secret’s bank, making Puppey’s efforts well worth it.
After Riyadh, all focus turns to TI12 in Oct. 2023, with Team Secret’s main squad needing to work their way through the regional qualifiers to make it to Seattle.
