Many people complain that Icex3 is bad and want him kicked. But I'd say those who say that are not Secret's, or at least not Puppey's true fans. They are just fleeting fans of Secret's prime era where the team dominated. Either that, or they don't actually closely examine the current Team Secret to understand the deeper underlying issues.
[The Underlying Issues]
Throughout seasons 1 & 2, its obvious that Secret's problem was not a matter of any player being bad. It had more to do with them not being able to sync up in their playstyles, such as both supports farming in line ups where cores needed priority farm, even after losing lanes.
An example is how Yapzor chooses to roam from min 1 almost every game, and yet often fails to first blood. He then goes to farm, leaving Icex3 to 1v2, and then yet going core items instead of supp items. In such a situation, if the team even loses all lanes, their greedy strategy would just fail.
The team has been on the edge (esp. in season 2), feeling more tilted due to a lack of synergy (as shown in some of their player cams). If the issue was the players playing bad, Secret would have kicked someone earlier, instead of role swapping Sumail and Nisha.
They tried to make things work, but they simply haven't found the ideal team synergy. Teams like TSM and OG are great examples of teams that acknowledge that its all about the team synergy and energy, not just a matter of players' qualifications on paper. This is what Secret is working on now.
[Secret Hasn't Peak & Icex3 Can Actually Fit Given Team Adjustments]
Secret getting 5th place in Season 2, in spite of their team not syncing up well is already an amazing feat. It means they almost made it to the major, despite having team issues. All these to say that Secret hasn't peaked, and most likely can make it to the 3rd major by continuing to sync up as a team and by polishing their playstyle strategies.
Icex3 is a very flexible offlaner, who can play almost any hero, who can choose to play both sacrificially/greedily, who can 1v2 in lane (doesn't mean he wins the lane, but he holds it), who can play micro heroes, and who can read the map and make calls.
Yes, he often appears to feed or be farming. But when that happens, its not because his throwing. It's because he recognizes when its worth it to risk feeding if it drawing enemies to him as he pressures the map. It also means he recognizes when he DOES need some farm, in order to hit certain timings to be more impactful (E.g. blink dagger), compared to blindly taking fights.
He may not be as mechanically skilled as ATF, but he does have strengths that could fit in with Team Secret, such as diverse hero pool, being able to play sacrificially, and being able to read the map and make calls. If say ATF joins Secret, it is no guarantee that Secret will do better. ATF plays more greedy than Icex3. He may be more skilled, but that doesn't guarantee Secret can then be on the same page as ATF, or sync up with his greedy playstyle and limited hero pool.
[Team Secret Will Go Further With Crystallis' Addition]
Team Secret has always been a team that wins, not simply by playing greedy, but by adapting in games with superior in-game understanding over opponents, such as itemizing brilliantly and finding space to farm and pressure.
As long as they find the right synergy for farm distribution, laning strategies and map movements in the current meta, they can easily even rise to top 1 in EU. Once again I repeat, their issue is never about any player being bad, its the need to adjust their playstyles and to find greater team synergy. I believe Crystallis who is known to be flexible and able to play less greedy can help Secret go further.
Thanks for reading!
Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/DotA2/comments/uy29tf/unpopular_opinion_icex3_is_not_washed_secret_may/
