Puppey says It’s a Pleasure to Spend Time with Dendi Even as Opponents

Veteran players and The International 2011 (TI 1) champions Clement “Puppey” Ivanov and Danil “Dendi” Ishutin are known to be one of the oldest friend duos in the Dota 2 landscape. While they started their Dota 2 journeys together, time has taken the two friends on different paths. Despite everything, their friendship remains a spectacle. According to one of Team Secret’s recent tweets, ahead of the Team Secret vs B8 series at the ESL One Birmingham 2024 Western Europe closed qualifiers, Puppey talked about how it’s always a pleasure to spend time with Dendi.

Puppey’s Thoughts on Dendi & Their Heartwarming Friendship

“It’s always a pleasure to spend time with my man Dendi, even if it’s on the battlefield,” said Puppey on playing against his friend in the WEU qualifier. As one of the oldest friends duo in the Dota 2 professional landscape, Dendi and Puppey have had quite a journey and made for some memorable moments in the history of esport.

From winning the first-ever edition of The International to Dendi’s “Gangnam Style” in-person taunt after killing Puppey in an all-stars game, and the infamous fountain hook against TongFu at TI 3, these two have had quite a history together.

After the disappointing run at The International 2014, Puppey was let go from Na’Vi, after which he went on to join Team Secret. He has been part of the team ever since. Meanwhile Dendi remained on the team for an additional five years. Dendi left Na’Vi in 2019 and went ahead to found B8 Esports. Interestingly, after Puppey parted ways with Na’Vi, Dendi and Puppey played together once again as a part of Team Chuan at the TI 5 all-stars 12vs12 match-up.

Match Highlights: B8 vs Team Secret

On 28th January, B8 went against Team Secret at the ESL One Birmingham 2024 WEU closed qualifier. Team Secret assumed authority over B8 as it outclassed the other. During the first game, Team Secret had a 15k gold advantage and a 15 kills lead. Team Secret dominated almost every single skirmish that took place in the first game and eventually won the game after B8 called GG following an intense onslaught. 

Game 2 seemed to be more in favor of B8 as Dendi brought out his signature Queen of Pain. B8’s carry Luna dominated the game in the early phases and had a beyond Goldlike streak at 23 minutes. But after an unfortunate team fight, Team Secret managed to wipe out most of B8’s players, leaving only Luna behind. Following this, Team Secret gained more momentum and played aggressively. While Luna tried to play aggressively after his death, Team Secret recovered enough and answered the aggression. Remco “Crystallis” Arets on Razor was simply unstoppable in the later phases of the game and ended the game with a fountain dive to secure his Rampage at 42 minutes, relegating B8 to the lower bracket.

B8 then played against Navi Junior in the lower bracket but couldn’t secure a win and was promptly knocked out. Team Secret on the other hand lost against Entity in the next round and was knocked down to the lower bracket too. It later won its lower bracket round 2 series against Ninja Penguins but was knocked out by Tundra in the lower bracket semi finals of the ESL One Birmingham 2024 WEU closed qualifier after a clean sweep.