Team Secret has announced that Lasse “Matumbaman” Urpalainen has replaced Yeik “MidOne” Nai Zheng, who will be taking a break from competitive Dota 2.
MidOne has been the team’s midlaner since August 2016, having left his home country of Malaysia to play with Secret in Europe.
As one of the most dynamic mids in the world, he was crucial in Secret winning multiple tournament and Major championships over the past three years — namely DreamLeague Season 8 in 2017 and the Chongqing and Paris Majors last season — as well as three successful campaigns at The International (TI), including a team-best 4th place finish at TI9.
“MidOne has sacrificed tremendously in order to compete and contribute to our team’s success at the top level of DotA. He has proved an invaluable player and friend along the way, and we could not ask for a better team member,” said Secret in a statement.
“We are extremely grateful for everything he has done with us, and wish him a very well deserved rest in his time away from the competitive scene.”
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Matumbaman will take MidOne’s place on the roster as one of the most respected and versatile veterans of the scene, notably having won TI7 as Team Liquid’s midlaner. He will be moving to a new role as Secret’s position-1 player however, as the team’s former carry player, Michal “Nisha” Jankowski, will be their new midlaner.
In addition to shuffling its roster of players, Secret has also made a coaching change as Lee “Heen” Seung Gon will be replacing Lee “SunBhie” Jeong-Jae — who has coached the team since 2017.
“SunBhie has been with us as an advisor and friend, and has endured all the extreme pressures of the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) season whilst being our sixth man throughout this journey. We thank him for everything he has done for us, the good times spent together, and wish him the best in his future endeavors,” said Secret.
Heen is one of the most decorated coaches in the scene, having coached Liquid during their championship run at TI7 and was recently key in TNC Predator’s rise to prominence in Southeast Asia during his time there.
Heen will be working closely with Secret captain Clement “Puppey” Ivanov towards the goal of winning TI.
Secret’s new roster, which notably now includes three TI winners, will make its 2019-2020 DPC season debut at the qualifiers for DreamLeague Season 13: The Leipzig Major in early December. Shortly afterwards, the team will be appearing at its first LAN tournament at the ONE Esports DotA 2 World Pro Invitational in Singapore.
