OG missed the Bali Major after a tough Summer Dota Pro Circuit in the Berlin Major. This was not unconnected to the fact that they played without a key player in the first two, an incident that has been confirmed as one of the reasons why the team failed to succeed.
This was revealed by Dmitry “DM” Dorokhin in a post-match interview on Wednesday in DreamLeague Season 20 broadcast. First, OG started their summer debut without Tommy “Taiga” Le, and the situation around the support player was unrevealed for three weeks.
Many fans made their permutations and calculations about the reason behind his absence, but little did anyone know that it was fans’ personal leave as the player was dealing with anxiety and depression.
DM continued and said that the team was practicing when on the day Taiga decided to take a break from the team; it was a practice just before an official game for OG. He went on to reveal that the squad learned about Taiga around 16 hours before their DPC game. DM called it a disappointing experience after training for so long not to be able to play with the whole squad.
Subsequently, OG didn’t win a series without Taiga, but they did have some memorable performances with the stand-in. DM stated that playing with a stand-in isn’t a bad idea and cited Vladimir “RodjER” Nikogosian performance with 9Pandas in the Berlin Major as another scenario where the substitutes bring energy to the teams while trying to prove themselves.
Despite the inconsistencies surrounding OG’s roster throughout the DPC season, OG can still qualify for The International 2023 even without one of their key players, especially as Taiga eventually returned, forcing OG to do a roster shuffle before the start of the DreamLeague Season 20.
Daniel Ademiju Idowu
