In one of the most surprising twists in competitive Dota 2, OG shakes up their roster so hard that not a single original member remains. How will this new, unproven OG roster do in the next DPC season?
Just a few days ago, the deadline for roster lock-ins for Dota 2’s next DPC season has ended, bringing with it a surprising number of roster moves and changes that is sure to shake up the game at the highest competitive level. Today, we’ll be taking a look at OG, arguably the most famous Dota 2 organization and the one who has brought about the most changes within their roster. The question remains: how will this new roster compete at the WEU DPC, one of the most competitive regions in the Dota 2 world?
OG Dota 2 roster
- Artem “Yuragi” Golubiev (position 1)
- Bozhidar “bzm” Bogdanov (mid-laner)
- Ammar “ATF” Al-Assaf (off-laner)
- Tommy “Taiga” Le (soft support)
- Mikhail “Misha” Agatov (hard support)
At a glance
With the massive blowout that is OG’s last performance at the last iteration of The International, it’s not surprising that the organization will be looking to make changes in their roster in order to compete better in the next DPC season. However, what is surprising is that none of the original roster was kept in the shake-up; Topias “Topson” Taavitsainen and legendary captain Johan “N0tail” Sundstein both moved to the inactive roster, while Sébastien “Ceb” Debs announced his retirement, following the footsteps of legendary carry Anathan “ana” Pham. Both Sumail “SumaiL” Hassan and Martin “Saksa” Sazdov both moved out of the roster earlier this November.
This new roster consists mostly of relatively unknown and very young players, with OG casting a very wide net in terms of international appeal. Yuragi, more commonly known as space, hails from the CIS region and was formerly part of Team Unique. bzm, who formerly went by hansha, is from Bulgaria and played in the past for Creepwave. Coming with him from Creepwave is ATF, a well-known pubstar known as Ammar the F*.
With three relative newcomers to high-level Dota 2, OG also secured two rising veterans: Taiga was their pick-up from Team Liquid, while Misha, who joined the roster earlier this year as coach, officially joins the team as hard support and captain.
Taking a page from Team Spirit’s playbook
This new roster may have been partially inspired by the surprise victory of Team Spirit at TI10, with the latter utilizing young players who made their mark in the pub scenes of EU. This may be a double-edged sword for OG; on one hand, the organization recognizing the talent of young players may prove to be the edge they need in order to keep the Dota 2 roster relevant in the face of aging veterans.
However, with no more original players in the roster, it may also prove to be a detriment with the org losing its signature ‘OG touch.’ While N0tail will remain as an advisor for the team, it’s still up in the air if OG can see amazing results for this roster in what could be their most important DPC season yet.
