The best Dota 2 players of 2023 – for the first time excluding The International

Best player – Michal Nisha Jankowski

In 2018, Nisha got into Team Secret and immediately showed that not all newcomers need time to adapt to shooting range-1 “Dota”. Two years have passed since then, and now the Pole has become a player who makes a huge contribution to the success of the European squad and is often the decisive factor in the most tough matches.

Despite the unsuccessful end of the season (relegation from the EPIC League, fourth place at ESL One Germany), Team Secret can be safely called the team of the year, and its mid lane is the best player. The European club started 2023 with a bright performance at DreamLeague Leipzig Major DreamLeague Leipzig Major, where Yankovsky’s team became the champion without losing a single map until the final. The next couple of months, Secret showed more modest results, but in May again pleased the fans with a victory, defeating VP.Prodigy 3-0 in the first division final WePlay! Pushka League Season 1 Division 1… And this moment, it seems, became a turning point – after it, the club began an enchanting series of victories. From May to September, the team won all eight tournaments in which they participated, without losing a single map in the finals.

Nisha’s role in Team Secret’s dominance is hard to underestimate. The huge pool of heroes of the Polish esports player allows Puppey take on the center line of almost any character. If you look at Yankovsky’s stats in the finals, you can see that he really plays all types of mid laners – from the standard Queen of Pain, Storm Spirit and Ember Spirit to the much more niche Meepo, Visage and even Beastmaster. At the same time, the abundance of characters does not prevent Nisha from consistently performing at a high level.

Usually, the title of the best player is bestowed for success at The International, but in 2023 the championship was not destined to take place. Ironically, a year earlier Nisha also lost the first line in our ranking precisely because of TI – his team showed excellent results during the season, but at the decisive tournament at the last moment they stumbled, and therefore Nisha could not overshadow the success Topson… Perhaps, if the anniversary The International in 2023 did take place, Nisha would not have been such an obvious candidate for the first line in the top. But in the current state of affairs, he was definitely the best in the professional scene.

CIS Star – Danil gpK ~ Skutin

While Nisha and Team Secret were celebrating their victory at the Major and preparing for the not yet canceled ESL One Los Angeles, gpK ~ became the top esports newsmaker in the CIS, starting 2023 with a very unexpected decision. In February, the player abandoned the bootcamp with Gambit Esports before ESL One Los Angeles 2023 and as a result lost his place in the club’s starting lineup. The further fate of gpK ~ was shrouded in a huge number of different rumors and assumptions. It was originally believed that Skutin would go to Virtus.pro, then they predicted a transfer to Natus Vincere… However, neither one nor the other happened, and therefore Skutin first almost left Dota 2, and then returned to Gambit, whose roster had changed a lot by that time.

It soon became clear that gpK ~ would not stay with this team. After the third place on StarLadder ImbaTV Dota 2 Minor Season 3 the team failed qualifiers for ESL One Los Angeles 2023, and the organization soon partially disbanded the roster. After that Skutin became very much in demand: in a short time he managed to play the role of a standin for Evil Geniuses, Team Spirit, HellRaisers, FlyToMoon, Team Unique and VP.Prodigy… The Russian esportsman showed the best result in the latter – together with VP.P, he entered the top 2 at OGA Dota PIT S3, losing to Team Secret in the final.

From that moment on, Skutin was again associated with VP – but with Prodigy. The official announcement took place on November 1. By that time, there was practically no intrigue – absolutely everyone was waiting for the transfer, because gpK ~ immediately played with the guys from Virtus.pro’s second roster. And although Skutin cannot boast of the same stability as the same Nisha, in most matches the Russian plays very effectively, which allowed him to immediately become one of the brightest stars in the region.

At the EPIC League gpK ~ proved that he is one of the best mid laners in the world. And if not for the crumpled season, half of which Skutin acted as a standin for various clubs and rested on the bench, who knows – perhaps he could have forced Nisha to fight for the title of the best player in 2023.

The genius of “Dota” – Clement Puppey Ivanov

In Dota 2, big titles, be it the Player of the Year title or the MVP of a particular tournament, are more likely to get crust. Supports tend to be overlooked, but don’t underestimate their contribution to the team’s success. Especially if they are players like Puppey who also play the role of the captain.

Above, we talked about Team Secret’s phenomenal winning streak, which became one of the highlights of 2023 in Dota. It is foolish to deny that the team owes such a success to its leader. Of course, all members of the Secret roster are some of the best players in the world in their positions, but the teamplay of the roster itself is built around Ivanov’s experience and captaincy.

Puppey has long crossed the age line, after which many are thinking about leaving the professional scene – in 2023, the Estonian will turn 31. Despite this, Ivanov continues to not only manage the Team Secret game with high quality, but also performs at the highest level. This season, Puppey lacked only a victory at The International – like no one else he deserves to become a two-time champion of the series.