OG Will Defend Their Title at The International 10

After a thrilling roller coaster of a qualifier, and I do hope that you watched all of it, OG has qualified for The International 10. It would have been a huge loss for the tournament if the only team that managed to win it twice would not have had the opportunity to defend its title. But fortunately for the fans, Ceb proved once again why he’s an incredible captain and somehow managed to do what looked highly improbable: winning the Western Europe Qualifier for The International 10 against the likes of Liquid, Nigma, and Tundra.

The Story of OG’s Success

OG started the year with high hopes. But it quickly became clear that they were not strong enough to win a race against Europe’s strongest competitors. At the end of Season 1 of DPC 2021, they were 5^th and missed the Singapore Major. Immediately after, they decided to part ways with MidOne and bring in their most trusted carry: ana.

But the Australian proved weaker and far less motivated than OG had hoped. This led to another failure. In Season 2 of DPC 2021, OG finished 6^th. So instead of qualifying for the WePlay AniMajor, they almost relegated to the Lower Division. Ana couldn’t take the failure and announced his departure from the team, just a few months after he had joined. Luckily for OG, one of the world’s best players was available. And they had played together before for 6 months.

With Sumail as their new carry, OG looked like a strong team again. But they still had a huge challenge in front of them. Liquid had taken part in both Majors and was a top 3 team in Western Europe. And that’s with Secret and Alliance included. Nigma, led by one of the game’s best captains (KuroKy), had finished Season 2 in 3^rd place and the second Major in 5^th – 6^th place. Tundra didn’t look so scary, but it ultimately proved to be even stronger than the first two.

Because of these reasons, it looked as though OG’s mission was going to be extremely difficult. And it was.

TI 10 Western Europe Qualifier Results

The qualifier had 14 teams! It’s true, most of them didn’t count. But many of them did. Apart from the usual suspects, competitors like Hellbear Smashers, Vikin.gg, Brame, and Spider Pigz were not exactly cluless about the game. And that became obvious right away. Nigma needed 3 games to defeat Hellbear Smashers. OG needed 3 games to defeat Vikin.gg. And Liquid needed 3 games to defeat Spider Pigz. The skill difference was not that great and little things made the difference between success and failure.

Match 1

As I mentioned above, OG’s run in the Upper Bracket of the TI 10 Western Europe Qualifier started with a difficult match against Vikin.gg. After joining forces with KheZu, this team became a formidable force. And they proved that in their first game against OG, which they won. Of course, being the champions of the last two editions of the world championship, OG bounced back and ended up winning the match. But it was not an easy ride.

Match 2

In the second match of the Upper Bracket, OG encountered Nigma. This was another thriller that needed 3 games to conclude. And I’m pretty sure that OG felt huge relief after beating KuroKy’s squad.

Upper Bracket Final

The third match was a stomp. But not in favor of OG. Tundra absolutely obliterated them and ended the dispute in just two games. This sent Ceb’s team to the Lower Bracket, where they ended up facing Nigma for the second time. Game 1 was won by Nigma, who picked comfortable heroes for everyone. iLTW was on Terrorblade, Miracle was on Invoker, and MC was on Mars. Those picks proved to be wise and Nigma ended the game in 40 minutes.

Lower Bracket Final

Games 2 and 3 were stomps, mainly because OG went for novel drafts while Nigma went for ridiculous ones. Not to offend KuroKy, but he should know better. Picking Alchemist offlane and Razor support is unheard of at this competitive level. His draft was an auto loss. As for the 3^rd game, I found it strange that he gave his best player, Miracle, a hero like Timbersaw. He should have given him one of his favorites.

Grand Final

The Grand Final of The International 10 Western Europe Qualifier was incredibly difficult for OG. The bookmakers regarded Ceb’s team as the favorite but after they had lost 0 – 2 against FATA in the Upper Bracket Final, I’m pretty sure the players didn’t feel that way.

Game 1 started well for OG, but the team went from having a massive networth lead of around 10K to losing in just under an hour. It was painful to watch and gave everyone a feeling that OG was doomed. But in game 2, OG bounced back. The Invoker plus Terrorblade combo was too strong for a lone Anti-Mage to handle. What made Tundra lose the game was OG’s timings. They exploited their power peaks to perfection and FATA’s crew was simply unable to respond.

In game 3, an excellent Brewmaster pick along with a Terrorblade pick made it so that OG’s draft was completely ineffective. I’m not sure what Ceb was thinking but Zeus plus Drow is not exactly a strong combination. But he must have assumed that Zeus was going to be great against TB, so he picked it. What he should have considered is the fact that once TB gets a BKB, Zeus can’t do much against him. And without a front-liner other than Timbersaw, the whole thing falls apart.

Games 4 and 5 were masterpieces for OG. In game 4, Ceb went for his legendary Axe pick. And strangely enough, he put Sumail on Templar Assassin, in the safe lane! And then he picked the same carry for Sumail in game 5. By all standards, this is not something you want to do in your pubs. Because everyone will report you.

One thing I enjoyed was the Disruptor pick in game 5. This hero proved to be a great counter to Ursa and pretty much won OG the match.

 

Photo credit: Valve