Team Secret’s Khezu has published his Post Kiev Blog and it is uplifting

Team Secret’s offlaner Maurice ‘Khezu‘ Gutmann has published a blog post on Twitlonger after their early exit from the Kiev Major. Despite being the top seeded team for the single elimination bracket, Team Secret lost to the lowest seeded Brazilian team, SG e-sports.

Confidence Issues

Khezu talked about a lot of things, but he wrote this blog to talk about their Kiev Major loss to SG e-sports. He mentioned that during the DotaPit League Season 5, he wasn’t too confident about himself and didn’t feel that he was on par with the offlaners in other teams.

He said:

"The only thing I’ll mention about Dotapit and Starladder is that I wasn’t confident in myself and didn’t feel like I holding my ground compared to other offlaners. I can recall various games. Games vs EG at Dotapit, I played SK f.example, was not a treat to watch for sure."

He then mentioned how he met the Kiev Major champion OG’s captain Fly and how their conversation meant a lot to him and even mentioned that he talked about his confidence issues and said that all the points that Fly has mentioned have been an eye opener to him. Khezu also mentioned that Team Secret’s captain Puppey was also a big influence and made him who he is right now.

"I had along talk with him and also talked about his past (when he was in Secret and so forth). After our long talk at the airport I just realized something. I could relate to every word he said and it was like an eye-opener to me. All these things combined f.ex that Puppey, my current team and Tal told me, made me who I’m now in Dota. If I compare myself from then to now, I can safely say myself that I feel alot better, that I voice my opinion and try to be as impactful as I possibly can. I know many times I can still do more but I’m certain I will get there."

He mentioned how loss of confidence is a big issue in playing professional Dota and how one must never lose their confidence. He thanked Fly for imbibing a new level of confidence in him.

"Confidence is a huge point in Dota. It’s more of a mental game than people believe. Which means a big thank you to Fly for helping me so much."

He even admitted that he feared that he would be kicked out of the team after their poor showing at StarLadder i-League StarSeries Season 3.

"At one point before Starladder I actually felt like if I don’t get better at some point there’s a high possibility of me being kicked from the team. It’s a horrible feeling and adds pressure on top of the rest. Luckily now I do not feel this way anymore."

At the Kiev Major

He felt happy after Team Secret displayed a strong showing at the Kiev Major EU qualifiers and secured their place at the big event.

Win vs IG

Khezu particularly laid emphasis on Team Secret’s group stage match against Chinese powerhouse Invictus Gaming and how they managed to defeat them. He mentioned how he helped his team by opting for a very different, team-fight oriented build on Enigma that game.

Loss to SG e-sports

Next came SG e-sports in the round of 16 of the Kiev Major. In Game one, Team Secret easily outgunned SG as they went on to win the game. But, SG e-sports opted for an aggressive style of play in the second game as they drafted a very scary lineup. He told that they didn’t make the right moves while SG did.

"I do believe fighting them is the right way to go about it. Even if it seems hard. It is incredibly diffucult to split push a team that has Riki + Lifestealer and on top a Disruptor as support. Not to mention Lina and Dark Seer have great Wave clear so lanes will push in constantly. Sadly we didn’t make the right moves while they did, over and over."

He also posted a long paragraph about how they lost the second game as the enemy team’s Sand King was a real pain for Team Secret. He praised SG e-sports for their brave and valiant display in the Kiev Major and wished them all the best.

"SG played way better than many people would have expected them to play. I knew they are good and have potential, but not this good. Even their showing vs EG was impressive."

He thanked all the fans for supporting the team during difficult times and also thanked all his teammates at Team Secret.

We wish all the best to Khezu and Team Secret for their upcoming tournaments.