Team Secret ME has just become real with captain Clement "Puppey" Ivanov trying to salvage a disastrous year.
Riyadh Masters 2023 and its $15,000,000 prize pool had Team Secret going creative and building a last minute Middle East roster for the only qualifier leg the tournament has.
MENA closed qualifiers are scheduled to commence Wednesday, June 21, with four teams battling through a double elimination bracket for one ticket to Riyadh. Starting with this year’s edition Riyadh Masters became the pinnacle event of the newly launched ESL Pro Tour. The EPT consisted in its first iteration of two DreamLeague seasons that offered a direct path to the 15M dollars tournament and an EPT ranking system that would get the teams invited to the said DreamLeague tourneys.
However, with 2023 being the absolute worst year in Team Secret’s existence, there are no more straight forward paths to either The International or Riyadh Masters. While Puppey has to prepare his team for regional qualifiers in hopes that he will be able to keep the TI all-time record alive, he is also playing side quests or he is undergoing a trial by fire with a secondary roster.
In order to be eligible for the Riyadh Masters 2023 qualifiers, a team must have “3 or more of the players who reside in the area they are competing in and participate in each match.” For those criteria to apply, Puppey took Remco “Crystallis” Arets with him and gathered three Jordanian players to join them, including an old Team Secret friend.
Former team member, Yazied “YapzOr” Jaradat is back for the Riyadh MENA qualifier, but he is playing in the offlane position. In the mid lane, Team Secret ME has Anas "MagE-" Hirzallah while the support 4 is Mohammad "AfrOmoush" Eis.
Team Secret ME roster
Remco “Crystallis” Arets
Anas “MagE-” Hirzallah
yazied “YapzOr” Jaradat
Mohammad “AfrOmoush” Omoush
Clement “Puppey” Ivanov
Riyadh Masters MENA qualifiers will unfold June 21-24, and the competition is announcing to be rather interesting to follow. Quest Esports, who have just qualified for the Bali Major, will be fighting for the Riyadh ticket as well, along with Nigma Galaxy and Dota Enjoyer, an Iranian stack.
headline image credits: StarLadder
