Manila Major Team Preview: OG

When it comes to Majors, OG wrote their name into the Dota 2 history books by winning the very first one in Frankfurt last November. Previously known as (monkey) Business, the team took the name OG just before competing in the German city.

Having won the first Major, OG went on to win DreamLeague Season 4 to establish themselves amongst the top Dota 2 teams.

The new year didn’t start well though and the team had a quiet first four months. This included a disappointing showing in the following Major in Shanghai where they finished 7-8^th. Nevertheless, OG resisted the temptation of making roster changes and have started to make a comeback, securing 3^rd spot at Epicenter as well as winning DreamLeague Season 5.

 

Roster

Amer “Miracle-” Barqawi – position 1/2
Johan “N0tail” Sundstein – position 1/2
David “MoonMeander” Tan – position 3
Andreas “Cr1t-“ Franck Nielsen – position 4/5
Tal “Fly” Aizik (c) – position 4/5

 

2016 achievements:

DreamLeague Season 5 – 1^st

Epicenter – 3^rd

StarLadder i-League Invitational – 4^th

MarsTV Dota 2 League Winter 2015 – 3^rd

 

Current form:

May – 66.7% win rate (6 wins, 3 losses)

 

Top 5 most picked heroes (patch 6.87c)

 

Top 5 most banned heroes (patch 6.87c)

 

OG won the Frankfurt Major through aggressive play with defensive and sustaining supports (Dazzle, Io and Winter Wyvern), which were usually used together with tanky carries like Dragon Knight and Slardar. This made for a solid defensive hero composition, which was well-prepared for the later stages of the game. In the current patch, OG prefer Phoenix as an alternative to the Winter Wyvern and often combine this with Dragon Knight, which provides similar defensive qualities but with the greater attacking prowess of the Phoenix.

Star man Miracle- is widely regarded as one of the very best players in the world with a deep understanding of the game, despite his youth. The team often plays around him, engaging with the enemy and providing him with space to farm up his items. Of course, his teammates deliver equally strong performances – at Epicenter, N0tail played a crucial part, for example. Although most of the time Miracle- plays mid, N0tail and him tend to swap the 1 and 2 positions, which gives them more tactical variety.

The team is also able to fight in the early game using Earth Spirit for rotations to help win lanes and secure quick kills to gain advantage, with Cr1t-‘s handling of the hero considered one of the best around. Beastmaster is another hero with whom the team is very successful, but this is recognized by their rivals and thus the hero often gets banned.

During DreamLeague, the team played three matches in the main event, but in all of them used unconventional compositions. This ultimately resulted in three wins and first place, with drafter Fly demonstrating that he is not afraid to try out different combinations in the new patch.

To further boost their chances, the team announced over the weekend that Sebastien “7ckngMad” Debs will be coaching the team during the Major in Manila.

OG haven’t demonstrated stable performances since the beginning of the year, but their recent plays show that they are getting back to their best with some notable performances. Having a star player in their squad and some solid strategies to rely on, OG will be aiming for the stars in this Major.

Dafabet will be providing competitive odds on The Manila Major.