OG Dota: Becoming the best.

OG first formed under their old team name Monkey Business back in
2015 after the founding members and old teammates, Johan Notail
Sundstein and Tal Fly Aizik, were eliminated from the biggest Dota 2
tournament to date, The International 2015. At this time, Fly was playing
the support role for team Complexity, while Notail was supporting for
Cloud 9.

After both of the aforementioned teams were eliminated from TI5, Notail
and Fly began to form their new team. They decided they wanted to mix
things up in numerous ways: bringing in fresh a new player, an old enemy
from the Heroes of Newerth days, and changing up in-game roles.

Notail, who was a very strong support player, even considered to be one
of the best IO players in the world, would go on to assume the role of the
carry.

Fly would take up the mantle of captain once again. After the disbanding
of team Fnatic, Fly hung up the title of captain during his time at
Complexity, where player swindlemelonzz was the shot caller.

Also from Complexity, Fly brought along new teammate and old rival
from when they played Heroes of Newerth, David MoonMeander Tan.

4th to join the new team would be a fellow Dane to Notail, Andreas
Franck Cr1t- Nielsen.

Finally, the fresh faced new player to be brought from the Dota 2 pub
scene would be the 8k god, Miracle-. Miracle- was a player people had
begun to take notice of as he would have outstanding performances in
the mid role. Notail decided to approach him and ask him to join his new
team. He accepted.

And so the original team was formed. They went on to find themselves as
a team, hone their playstyle, and become the team OG.

After competing in some of the smaller tournaments until November of

2015, their first real test came in the form of the first Valve Major event
in Dota 2 history. The Frankfurt Major.

The team had a rocky start losing 2 of their games in the group stage of
the tournament. This would mean that OG would be taking part in the
most treacherous part of any tournament. The main stage best of 1. All
the teams in the lower half of the group brackets would have to compete
in a single game and the loser is eliminated from the tournament.

Their first game would be against the new roster of Fnatic. OG emerged
victorious, thrusting them into the lower bracket best of 3s. Here we
would see them surge through the lower bracket claiming win after win.
Suddenly, it was the grand finale. The team who hadnt yet lost a set
versus the team who were always on the knifes edge. OG were no longer
the team they played in the group stages, this team had become
increasingly more dominant and powerful. So much so, that they swept
aside Team Secret in a 3-1 victory claiming victory in the first ever Dota 2
major.

This moment at the top would soon come to an end by the time of the
next Valve hosted event, The Shanghai major. Dubbed by many as the
Shanghai ShitShow due its extremely poor scheduling and numerous
stream delays and problems. Regardless of this, Team OG would step into
this event with a target on their backs. They were the champions of the
previous major and a strong favourite to take home the title of champion
once more.
The events that took place were almost a mirror of what happened in
Frankfurt. OG would stomp through the group claiming top seed in their
group, only to immediately be sent down to lower bracket by the team
they beat for the title in Frankfurt, Team Secret. After being sent into
lower bracket, they would run into the Russian team, Virtus Pro, whom
they would claim victory over.

Maybe it was starting to look like another Frankfurt storyline, with our
heroes being sent down to lower bracket early, but persevering through
and claiming victory once more Unfortunately, this wasnt the case this
time around. After their win over the Russians, the Green Dream would
be eliminated by the squad of Fnatic.

After such a poor performance, the team would take a break to recollect
themselves and understand where they went wrong, and after reflecting,
they claim to the conclusion that they themselves were to blame. Team
captain Fly claimed that they got complacent going into the second
major. This is not a rare occurrence either, many teams who claimed
victory in the most prestigious of events all came crashing down
eventually.

Alliance has never been the same after their unbelievable dominance in
The International 3.

Newbee didnt even last half a year after their victory at The
International 4. Being eliminated from DAC 2015 in 15th place.

Evil Geniuses would see a series of losses after their victory at The
International 5.

This would be the true test of the Team in Green. Would they fall from
grace like the rest of the Valve event champions before them? Or reclaim
glory and go on to be regarded as one of the greatest teams in the
games history? Manila is where would find out.

Fast forward to June of 2016, Manila was the next location of the Dota 2
Major, only 2 months away from The International 6. As a major winner,
Valve still considered OG to be worthy of a direct invite, and they did not
let that opportunity go to waste. Groups stages ended with OG (Oblivious
Gamers) sitting in second place of their group, meaning they avoided the
lower bracket. Now, for the main stage

The OG that performed at Manila was unlike anything we had seen at any
of the events before. Frankfurt was the beginning, showing the rise of
the team, Shanghai showed us the fall. Manila showed us the
determination. This team came to Manila with a vengeance and purpose
to immortalise themselves amongst the greatest. OG stormed through
every single game until the grand finale.

Their opponent would be Team Liquid. Lead by ex-Navi member, Kuroky,

Team Liquid were considered one of the strongest teams in the game at
the time. Regardless of their strength, they fell to OG 3-1. The Green
Dream would claim the title of their second Dota 2 Major.

Up until this point, OG have won a major, then lost, and then won the last
major. If we were to go off this pattern, the next event is the one that
every Dota 2 team and player works towards all year, and the event that
would hold a dark future for the team in green.

After an incredible run through the group stage, placing themselves top
of their group, OG would proceed to crumble as they made their first
appearance on the main stage against their opposition from South Korea,
MVP Phoenix.

The true shock didnt come until their first game in the lower bracket
however, when they would face off against the Jimmy Demon Ho
captained team from the Philippines, TNC. They were not only beaten;
they were beaten 2-0 and left the tournament without claiming a single
win on the mainstage.

The International can be a truly fearsome beast. It can both immortalise

teams for years to come and crush them. Throughout the remainder of
the tournament, many personalities expressed their desire for the team
roster of OG to remain the same, but sometimes changes are needed.
During the break in the competitive scene after The International, news
would break that Cr1t-, MoonMeander, and Miracle- would be leaving the
team. For fans, these losses were heart breaking.

Soon after the previous members departure, OG would announce the new
teams roster, introducing familiar faces to the Dota 2 scene and someone
brand new. First off was International 3 champion and drafter of Alliance,
S4. However, S4 would not be playing his usual role of mid, he would be
moving to the offlane.

Second, the support player from Team Liquid, Jerax. Jerax was a player
who was on the same level as Cr1t when it came to the 4-position support
role. His incredible understanding of roaming and high mechanical skill
was a true sigh of relief for fans who were worried about who was going
to be filling in the space that Cr1t left.

Lastly, the newest member to both the team and the Dota 2 professional
scene would be Ana. The new mid laner who would be replacing Miracle-
would be an Australian native known for his high rank amongst the
fearsome Chinese server leaderboards.

These new members had some seriously large shoes to fill, and just how
the original team would prove themselves at a major, this new roster
would do the same.

December 2016, the Boston Major. This would be the start of the new
season after The International. Each team which had a roster change
would find this to be their proving grounds.

Unlike their first Major in Frankfurt, OG would continue their streak of

performing well in the group stages, ending top of their group without
dropping a single game.

Even though they ended top of their group, this event was single
elimination, so you only had one shot, no lower bracket second chances.
Earning a high place in groups only meant that seeding would be to your
advantage, this meant that OG, who placed first in their group, would go
up against MVP Phoenix who placed last in their group.

It was almost as if the pressure of being only one loss away from
elimination powers this team up. OG would go on to win not only the first
major of the season, but the teams third major. No other team in the
history of Dota 2 has won a Valve event more than once, and yet this
team had just claimed their third. Any doubts within the minds and
hearts of OG fans had been completely cleared.
This team was here to stay.

Conor NewBlood Evans