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OG come back for their second tour and dominate the Dota Pro Circuit
OG have returned to their previous form with a completely new roster and are heading to the Stockholm Major with a full head of steam. Here's their journey through the season.
OG have returned this Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) season with a vengeance. They ended their run in the Western Europe region in the middle of the pack last tour, but everything has changed this season as they ended the second tour in first place, tied with Gaimin Gladiators. This is how the youngest group of players in the league managed to top the DPC in only their second tour.
OG start the season with a two-game win streak
OG started the season strong with a win against Nigma Galaxy, who were thought to be a strong team at the beginning of the season. Nigma Galaxy aimed to get a team fighting composition with Death Prophet's Exorcism and Gyrocopter's range of area-of-effect abilities. But a Roshan fight at the 20-minute mark essentially won the game for OG as it allowed the space for Artem 'Yuragi' Golubiev's Terrorblade to scale up, and there was nothing that Nigma Galaxy could do to touch Yuragi's Terrorblade. They ended the game 12 minutes later after systematically taking towers.
The second game was an all-out battle, with both teams vying for the Roshan. On one side, OG's Templar Assassin needed to play with a fast pace to take as many Aegises as possible. On the other hand, Nigma Galaxy tried to scale with a Medusa. Even with a slight 5,000 gold lead, OG were able to execute their game plan. Their composition also centred around an amazing Vengeful Spirit carry piloted by Yuragi that was able to gain a rampage.
OG's next game would be one of the largest challenges of the season, facing Team Liquid, the previous winner in the last DPC tour. Team Liquid started off the game with a Lone Druid pick, and OG also took their chances and gave Ammar 'ATF' Al-Assaf an offlane Huskar, once again showing that OG is always willing to take chances when necessary. The second game, on the other hand, was much more competitive. OG drafted a mid-game lineup that had Enigma as a late-game insurance. Tommy 'Taiga' Le's Enigma was of dire importance in leading OG to victory against Liquid – he landed a three-man Black Hole near the dire triangle to clutch the game out for OG.
The only loss that OG suffered throughout the season was a week three loss to Team Secret. The first game they lost to a Io and Gyrocopter combination that was piloted beautifully by Team Secret. OG did fight back in the second game, with another ATF Huskar mid in combination with Yuragi's famous Monkey King, to hit a timing that Team Secret could not deal with. Unfortunately, the third game was a close loss for OG, where Secret's Yazied 'YapzOr' Jaradat's Earth Spirit was able to kick Yuragi's Terrorblade out of the base, leading to an OG defeat.
One loss, then back to business
The next four games for OG can only be described as complete domination of the rest of the league. OG did not drop a single game after the loss to Team Secret, going 8-0 for the tail end of the DPC Winter Tour 2. In their next game against Tundra Esports, it was once again ATF's turn to shine on his signature Timbersaw. Even having a lost lane, he was able to impact the game greatly, constantly baiting the enemy to go on him, while getting away with the slightest bit of health. Yuragi's Monkey King was once again on the case for the second game, flying around the trees and eventually getting himself an ultra kill. From then on, OG kept finding openings with ATF's Mars and eventually ended the game.
While OG had three games left, the last two were almost pre-determined – Brame and Entity were the two weakest teams in the upper division of the Western Europe DPC. However, before OG could face off against them, they had to face their rivals for the season, Gaimin Gladiators.
Gaimin Gladiators are one of the more unique teams in the entire league, never scared to pick something new. However, OG were ready, pulling something out of their own, Phantom Lancer – an uncommon hero, but one that was perfect in the first game against Gaimin Gladiators. With the enemy having no answer for the hoard of Phantom Lancer illusions, OG handily won the first game.
At this point, the Gaimin Gladiators pulled out their famous Io and Storm Spirit pairing in the mid lane. But OG were able to gain advantages in multiple lanes. Taiga ran around causing chaos on his Hoodwink and played beautifully with Yuragi's Kunkka and Mikhail 'Misha' Agatov's Lich. OG maintained a gold lead throughout the game and were able to control Gaimin Gladiator's Wraith King beautifully, and eventually ended the game.
The final two games of the season were a wash for OG. In the game against Brame Esports, OG were never in a gold deficit after the 10-minute mark. By the time the second game came around, OG destroyed their competition in 21 minutes. The matches against Entity were more of the same. Despite the final game of the season being slightly back and forth, OG were able to secure the victory and their first-place finish in the Western Europe DPC.
OG now pave their path forward onto the Stockholm Major, which kicks off later this week, where they will face the best teams in the world. From their humble beginnings as a completely new team in the first tour, OG has had a meteoric rise in the second. Now OG might have a chance to continue the legacy of the organisation well into the future.
