esports
Having made history as the first team to ever win successive titles at The International, here's a rundown of the stars behind OG.
Born from the ashes of Team (Monkey) Business, Team OG found a foothold in Dota 2 when they won Valve's first-ever Frankfurt Major in November 2015 shortly after forming.
OG continued to find success early on, picking up multiple smaller tournament wins and eventually becoming the first team to win not only two, but three majors with stunning performances all throughout 2016 – and then one more major in spring 2017 to boot.
Despite those accolades, they still had something to prove on the biggest stage of all: The International. When 18 of the world’s best Dota 2 teams gathered in Seattle to compete in Valve's $24 million prize tournament in 2017, OG finished joint seventh, which was no shame, but the team knew they had to do better next time around.
However, in the build up to the following year's TI8 finals, last minute player departures and problems within the camp threatened to derail OG's title bid before it had even begun. Wonderfully though, they went on to do the impossible and win the entire tournament - an incredible story you can now watch in new documentary Against the Odds below:
Last August, the reigning champions went over to Shanghai to defend their title at TI9. No longer plucky underdogs and with the weight of the world squarely on their shoulders, how would they respond? By winning it all again, of course, defeating Team Liquid in a frantic final battle to become the only Dota 2 team to hold two International titles - back-to-back titles at that. Even Hollywood couldn't even script it.
Since those heady 2019 highs there have been some major changes with Ceb moving into a more internal role, ana taking the year off and JerAx retiring from the game completely. Stalwart N0tail and the ever brilliant Topson remain in the lineup while there have been a few shrewd names added to the roster. In short, 2020's shaping up to be another blockbuster year.
Without further ado, here are the leading men behind OG...
Johan 'N0tail' Sundstein
N0tail is one of the most outgoing personalities in Dota, known for his in game shot-calling and ability to handle micro-intensive heroes. He's played in every position, from mid in his Heroes of Newerth days to support after transitioning to Dota 2 to playing hard carry for Team OG. With a myriad of Dota knowledge at his disposal, Johan has grown into a style that shows enhanced awareness during the early stages of the game.
As a founding member of OG, and a player who's been at the very top of the Dota 2 scene pretty much since it started, N0tail has done it all. Major wins, lifting the Aegis twice, forming super teams, pulling together rosters at the last minute and playing every position – you name it, the Dane's done it and almost always found success.
It's a team game of course and without N0tail's game craft Team OG wouldn't be riding the wave it currently finds itself on. Both in and out of the game, N0tail knows how to get the best out of his team-mates, whether it's motivating them between matches with his unique philosophies, or playing unselfishly to create space for the other stars on the team, he knows what he needs to do to make sure his entire team is performing at the highest level.
Syed Sumail 'SumaiL' Hassan
An absolute marquee signing for OG, Surmail first burst onto the scene with Evil Geniuses, establishing himself as one of the world’s finest mid players as far back as 2015’s Dota 2 Asia Championships, before making history at The International in the same year.
The US-based wunderkind played a pivotal part in EG winning TI 2015, becoming not just the youngest player to ever win the tournament (aged just 16 years and 176 days old) but also the first player to surpass $1m in earnings in the whole of esports. Though mainstream fame followed he never lost his hunger for Dota 2 and consistently proved a thorn in the side of major outfits such as OG.
And after recent departures of TI champs Ceb and ana (just for the interim) and JerAx, having a player who knows exactly what it takes to lift the Aegis Trophy could prove priceless for OG going into 2020. Another bonus is how comfortable SumaiL feels with the most recent version of Dota, saying “I think this is by far the best gameplay patch, no joke".
Topias 'Topson' Taavitsainen
Barely two years since joining OG from relative obscurity, Finland's Topias 'Topson' Taavitsainen has been instrumental in the team's back-to-back titles at The International.
Some players are made for the esports stage: those with the talent to match their ability to perform under the highest pressure imaginable. Although in the case of Team OG's 'Topson', this might be an understatement – the esports stage was made for him.
When the Finn joined OG in June 2018 he'd never been on a salaried top level team before, and his amateur experience at LANs was limited to say the least. Known as a top level player in pubs, he got his chance to play on the biggest stage of them all, to the surprise of many, and immediately proved that he deserved to be there.
Now, barely two years on, he's won successive titles at The International, blasting away the competition with OG at both TI8 and TI9. He's also developed something of a cult following among fans, and, well, 'We Stan'.
Topson specialises in picking some of the most mechanically demanding heroes in the game, but always makes playing them look easy. Considering he's been playing Dota since he was just eight years old, though, that probably shouldn't be too surprising.
Martin 'Saksa' Sazdov
He may be the loftiest player on the Dota 2 tour, measuring a whopping 6ft’8, but joining OG shouldn't prove too tall an order for Saska, who should be a worthy replacement for JerAx in the secondary support position alongside N0tail.
The Macedonian brings experience by the bucketload: practically a gun for hire in the past eight years with cameos for numerous teams, he first made a real name for himself at The International 2016, where, as part of Wings Gaming, he finished as a runner up. Expect him to play a key role in this year's campaign.
Yeik 'MidOne' Nai Zheng
Since getting his big break with Fnatic in 2015, this Malaysian maverick has been a regular at The International, racking up two fourth place finishes and multiple majors. One of the most skilled players in the world — even becoming the first player from South East Asia to go above 8,000 MMR a few years ago — he has a unique ability to perform at a remarkably stable level and takes the offlane up a notch.
Speaking to Red Bull about joining the OG roster, MidOne revealed how he'll be transitioning in position with his new team: “I'll be playing position three for OG, Sumail will be the carry and Topson will be the mid. But I definitely could see me playing other positions if needed, that's how Dota works."
