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Gaming
"We were the underdogs, sort of" – OG on winning the Stockholm Major
OG's squad have picked up their first Dota Major without N0tail on the field – we talk to the team about their success and what comes next.
Just six months after forming, OG's current Dota squad have won their first Major at ESL One Stockholm 2022. For a squad that had never played together before (save for Ammar 'ATF' Al-Assaf and Bozhidar 'bzm' Bogdanov, who played together in Creepwave) to step into one of the most prestigious teams in Dota and find their footing so quickly is a testament to their skill as players and the abilities of their coaching team – and this win only solidifies that.
But it didn't come without its challenges. Two key members of OG – captain Mikhail 'Misha' Agatov and coach Evgenii 'Chuvash' Makarov – were unable to attend the tournament, leaving OG founder and superstar Johan 'N0tail' Sundstein to step in as coach, while retired OG player Sébastien 'Ceb' Debs returned to active play at the last minute.
Despite the last-minute call-up, N0tail actually enjoyed being back in the arena. "It was a very fun experience – I wanted to get closer to the team so the transfer of experience would happen better, and it seems like the universe aligned," he says.
Meanwhile, having a veteran player back on the team was a boon for the other players too. "Ceb playing with us had a huge impact mentally," says Tommy 'Taiga' Le. "He brought a lot of good speeches that kept us focused and reminded us why we are here, and that we were the underdogs, sort of."
Coming in hot
The OG squad entered the Stockholm Major with some positive momentum behind them, having finished the DPC WEU Division I season with a 6-1 win record. This translated into a second-place finish in their Group Stage, putting them in a strong position heading into the Playoffs.
But they were halted in their tracks after Team SoloMid defeated them in two straight games, knocking OG down into the lower bracket and at risk of being taken out of the competition entirely with one small slip-up. But for Ceb, it was a pretty valuable experience.
OG took a knock from TSM, but the loss taught them valuable lessons
© Adela Sznajder / ESL
"[TSM] had a much better tactical approach, and were the first team to really abuse our weaknesses," he says. "They helped us understand much better what our flaws were and in which way our playstyle could be abused. It was a great lesson."
That lesson spurred them on for the rest of the Playoffs, and OG only dropped two games for the rest of the tournament. One of those games was against Fnatic, a formidable opponent that pushed them to their longest, most difficult matches of the entirety of the Stockholm Major. At over an hour long, it was a brutal gauntlet that put every member of the team to the test – even veteran Ceb.
"I think it’s important to keep feeding off the team's energy and will to win," he says when asked how they kept pushing through to the win. "There are going to be ups and downs, but you can always rely on your team-mates and the team's mood in general, as there should always be at least one person feeling great and energised, no matter how the game looks."
Success story
After finally finishing off Fnatic in this gruelling Game 3, OG had little problem taking apart the rest of the competition, not dropping a game until their very first match in the Grand Final against TSM – the very team that had knocked them into the lower bracket in the first place.
"I definitely wanted to win vs TSM and the entire Major feels especially cool and exciting after beating them," says ATF on facing their rivals in the Grand Final. "I didn’t really let the hype affect me while playing, since the main goal is to win and I need to have full focus for it to happen."
OG lift a Major trophy for the first time since the Kiev Major in 2017
© Helena Kristiansson / ESL
And win they did, securing their first-ever Major with this current line-up. It's something N0tail always knew could happen, "but I didn't expect it to happen on their first try," he confesses. "Until the Major, I don't think they were close, and they weren't what I would define as good team-mates. But after this Major they felt closer, and felt the power of teamwork."
For now, the team is taking a well-deserved rest before they start training for their next tournament. And N0tail is certain that we'll see this OG squad at The International this year winning the Aegis, confidently stating that "they're coming to pick it up, it'll be up to others to stop them."
