Puppey’s “Stay down” to OG at TI10

Team Secret sends OG to the TI10 lower bracket

On the first day of The International 10’s main event in October 2021, Team Secret faced OG in the upper bracket. OG came to Bucharest as reigning two-time champions, but Secret won the series 2–0. As esports media noted, it was OG’s first drop to the lower bracket since 2017. From then on, any further loss would end their tournament.

Coverage does not state the exact match date outright: judging by when the news came out, it was October 12, 2021. Secret’s next upper bracket opponent was Invictus Gaming, with that match scheduled for October 14.

SirActionSlacks’ question and a two-word answer

After the series, Puppey sat down for an interview on the English broadcast. Host SirActionSlacks asked the Secret captain what advice he would give OG, who now had to fight their way through the lower bracket.

Puppey looked straight into the camera and answered briefly: “Stay down.” The line pointed to the lower bracket and at the same time sounded like advice to a beaten opponent not to get back up.

ONE Esports and esports.gg covered the answer the same day; ONE Esports put the line in its headline as Puppey's message to OG. Later, esports.gg included the moment in its roundup of the best TI10 post-match interviews, alongside other memorable answers from players.

Ceb’s reaction and a spot on the year’s lists

OG offlaner Ceb responded in an interview with the Chinese broadcast: “Puppey is always funny with his comments.” He also admitted that OG had been outplayed in the draft.

Puppey's answer made the lists of the best TI10 interviews, and esports.gg ranked the tournament's post-match interviews ninth among the top Dota 2 memes of 2021. OG were later eliminated for good: Team Spirit knocked them out in the lower bracket, and that match gave the community another meme, TORONTOTOKYO's “ez game.”

The interview frame on the card

The catalog picture is a frame from that very TI10 interview. Puppey, in a Team Secret jersey, holds a microphone, with The International banner visible behind him.

It is a moment from the broadcast, not a staged photo: the frame shows both the Secret captain and the branding of the tournament where the line was said.

The phrase itself isn't on the frame: “Stay down” was spoken out loud, and users add captions to the picture themselves. Puppey gave his advice to OG after winning the very first series of the main event.

How people use “Stay down”: example captions

People write the phrase when they want to finish off the loser in a few words, jokingly and without rudeness. These examples are made up for illustration: “My roommate lost to me in FIFA again and wants a rematch. Stay down,” “My alarm after the third snooze: stay down,” “Ticket prices right after I finally bought mine: stay down,” “My little brother after losing at checkers for the fifth time: one more game. Me: stay down.”

Related memes include TORONTOTOKYO's “ez game” and the Ceb vs. MidorMeepo story remembered for the phrase “taking out the trash.” All of them are about short trash talk aimed at an opponent. Its brevity makes “Stay down” handy in chat: it fits as a reply to any message about someone else's setback.