Frankfurt Major players ranked by track record

5. Artour “Arteezy” Babaev

• Dota 2 career: 2013 – present

• Teams: Kaipi, Take 5, SADBOYS, Evil Geniuses, Team Secret

• Titles in premium tournaments: 9
• Titles in professional tournaments: 6
• Runner up places in premium tournaments: 3
• Runner up places in professional tournaments: 2
• The International attendance: The International 4, The International 5

Success seems to come “2ez4rtz”. Young Canadian player Artour “Arteezy” Babaev quickly grabbed the community’s attention while playing midlane for Kaipi, alongside Jacky “Eternal Envy” Mao and Armand “bOne7″ Pittner, during the spring and summer of 2013. After leaving Kaipi to focus on his studies, he stood in for the team re-branded as Speed Gaming, at the MLG Pro League in Columbus, demonstrating exceptional skill and leading the team to victory.

In the following January, he started a new team called SADBOYS along with legendary North-American Dota players Clinton “Fear” Loomis and Saahil “UNiVeRsE” Arora, and former HoN players Peter “ppd” Dager and Ludwig “zai” Wåhlberg. The squad was picked up by Evil Geniuses only one month later.

Artour started to dominate the midlane, creating an indisputable reputation for himself as one of the top players in the role. The team moved forward, establishing itself as a first-rate team in the world, eventually placing third at The International 4.

In January 2015, Arteezy and zai left Evil Geniuses to join Team Secret. The transfer caused a major reshuffle in the Western region and was jammed full with controversy regarding players and contracts.

In order to become a part of Team Secret, Arteezy had to switch roles from midlane to carry. He adapted to his new role, as he was most notably known for a midlane style that was farm based.

Following The International 5, Arteezy left Team Secret and rejoined Evil Geniuses. Upon joining the team, Arteezy continued to play carry, while Clinton “Fear” Loomis moved to the support role.

4. Jonathan “Loda” Berg

• Dota 2 career: 2011 – present
• Teams: eXperience Gaming, Counter Logic Gaming, Team Zenith, No Tidehunter, Alliance
• Titles in premium tournaments: 9
• Titles in professional tournaments: 7
• Runner up places in premium tournaments: 4
• Runner up places in professional tournaments: 6
• The International attendance: The International 2, The International 3, The International 4

Having played professionally since 2006 together with teammate Akke, Loda is one of the most appreciated veterans in the scene.

Loda started playing Dota 2 during the early beta days. He began his professional Dota 2 career in December 2012, as part of eXperience Gaming, alongside Akke and Niclas “Niqua” Westergård. Later on, Loda joined the Singaporean powerhouse, Team Zenith, completing the roster as their fifth player for The International 2. Loda was one of the first Western players to join a Southeast Asian organization and move to Singapore.

In 2012, Loda and his longtime friend and teammate Akke would join the No Tidehunter roster. Once the team’s lineup became an all-Swedish one, No Tidehunter started to dominate the Western scene and was picked up by Alliance, in April 2013.

Under the new banner, Loda won multiple tournaments, including the famed International 3.

3. Joakim “Akke” Akterhall

• Dota 2 career: 2011 – present
• Teams: eXperience Gaming, Counter Logic Gaming, No Tidehunter, Alliance
• Titles in premium tournaments: 9
• Titles in professional tournaments: 7
• Runner up places in premium tournaments: 5
• Runner up places in professional tournaments: 7
• The International attendance: The International 2, The International 3, The International 4

Akke was introduced to DotA in 2005 by his high school classmate Jonathan “Loda” Berg and the two have created a longstanding career together. Akke first entered the Dota 2 scene playing for the Swedish team eXperience Gaming and then competed with Counter Logic Gaming, until he joined No Tidehunter, in 2012. The team, consisting of Loda, Akke, s4, AdmiralBulldog and EGM, dominated the Western scene and was picked up by Alliance. A few months and multiple tournament wins later, Alliance attended The International 2013. The team only lost three games during the entire tournament and won a very dramatic grand final against Na’Vi.

Despite several ups and downs, Akke held the fort with Loda and never left the team.

Akke has a long gaming history. He has also won the Nintendo Swedish Championships three times, in 2004, 2006 and 2012.

2. Gustav “s4” Magnusson

• Dota 2 career: 2012 – present
• Teams: No Tidehunter, Alliance, Team Secret
• Titles in premium tournaments: 14
• Titles in professional tournaments: 9
• Runner up places in premium tournaments: 4
• Runner up places in professional tournaments: 2
• The International attendance: The International 3, The International 4, The Interantional 5

Rather successful as a Heroes of Newerth professional player, Gustav made the switch to Dota 2 in 2012. His transition was seamless with successful performances in each trial team he was a part of over the course of the first few months.

In the early fall of 2012, the Swedish mid-laner formed No Tidehunter, a team which included players such as Jacky “Eternal Envy” Mao and Henrik “AdmiralBulldog” Ahnberg. s4 would shortly be joined by his former HoN teammates Jonathan “Loda” Berg and Joakim “Akke” Akterhall.

After No Tidehunter became a full-Swedish roster in February and was picked up by GoodGame Agency under the division name Alliance, Gustav had an incredible year, seizing victories in merely every tournament he participated in, including the most prestigious one, The International 3. s4’s “million dollar dream coil” essentially won Alliance The International 3 Grand Finals. s4 was on fire and became one of the quintessential names for the mid-lane role.

The season leading to The International 4 would prove to be somewhat less successful for the Swedish champions. After an eleventh-twelfth place finish at TI4, the famed mid-lane player would depart from the team, embarking on the new journey of Team Secret.

Following Team Secret’s disappointing performance at StarLadder Season 12, s4 took on the role of captain and drafter, leading the team to four consecutive LAN wins.

Following The International 5, s4 returned to Alliance and the team has started to experience a slight surge in their performances once again.

1. Clement “Puppey” Ivanov

• Dota 2 career: 2011 – present
• Teams: Na’Vi, Team Secret
• Titles in premium tournaments: 25
• Titles in professional tournaments: 5
• Runner up places in premium tournaments: 7
• Runner up places in professional tournaments: 2
• The International attendance: All International championships

Judging by the impressive number of championship titles won in premium tournaments, Puppey is the most successful player in the Dota 2 scene. He started his career in 2007, but it wasn’t until June of 2011 that Clement would find himself a home on Na’Vi, where he would be a stable and prominent key-player for the next three years.

Only two months after joining Na’Vi alongside Ivan “ArtStyle” Antonov, Danil “Dendi” Ishutin, Oleksandr “XBOCT” Dashkevych, and Dmitriy “LighTofHeaveN” Kupriyanov, The International 1 was at hand and the team got an invite, after having received the beta keys to play the game only three weeks before.

Na’Vi went undefeated throughout the entire International 1 tournament, winning the unprecedented $1,000,000 grand prize. Puppey’s professionalism and talent landed him the captain role after ArtStyle’s departure post-TI1. Under Clement’s leadership, Na’Vi would accumulate countless championship titles through the remainder of his tenure with the team, including second place at The International 2 and The International 3.

Following the unsatisfying results at The International 4, Puppey and teammate Kuro “KuroKy” Salehi Takhasomi parted ways with the Ukrainian organization and formed Team Secret.