A dominant OG took all the honors in front of a raucous Southeast Asia crowd at ESL One Malaysia 2022, rattling off three straight wins to claim the trophy.

The grand final signalled a rematch between the two teams, who last clashed at the PGL Arlington Major in the lower bracket semifinal. Aster took that series 2-1, but OG proved to be the better team this time round.

The European team’s victory means they go home with US$175,000 and the ESL One Malaysia 2022 trophy—and a boatload of confidence heading into The International 11. Meanwhile, Aster will have to make do with US$85,000.

Xxs’ Enigma wasn’t enough to outcarry OG’s tricores in game one

The first game between the two teams were a slow grind as they slowly built up their inventories. Both teams combined for less than 10 kills until nearly 30 minutes, before OG finally secured a decisive advantage when Aster’s Lin “Xxs” Jing made a crucial error when not popping his Black King Bar.

But Xxs’s Enigma was still a feared element for a reason. Ridiculous base defence after base defence, the Enigma’s multiple Black Holes and oodles of AOE damage from Troll Warlord and Queen of Pain repelled the enemy multiple times.

While OG found success in fights when forcing Aster out of the base, they remained frustrated by their repeated incursions into the Radiant fortress. Zeng “Ori” Jiaoyang was a menace on his Queen of Pain, weaving in and out of the fight, focusing individually on heroes to great effect.

They finally figured out that the only option was to bank on second lives—including buying back their whole team to get an Aegis of the Immortal, and purchasing multiple Aeon Disks.

Aster almost comes back from impossible odds in game two, but OG prevails

With the full momentum of a game one win, OG raced ahead in the early beginning. Aster’s cores were having a tough time matching up, allowing the European team’s three cores to race to a lead.

Credit has to be given to OG’s two supports, Tommy “Taiga” Le and Evgenii “Chu” Makarov on Nyx Assassin and Techies respectively.

They gave Ori’s Puck and Du “Monet” Peng’s Phantom Assassin a torrid time with their multitudes of stuns and silences. The Aster cores recovered well, however, with help from their own supports. Ye “BoBoKa” Zhibiao’s Tiny proved the difference in some early fight when he finally got Blink Dagger, while Yu “皮球” Yajun put in a stellar defensive stint on Winter Wyvern.

The game devolved into a hectic back-and-forth between the two teams, constantly trading teamfights and buybacks. But it was Artem “Yuragi” Golubiev that proved to be the final raid boss, whose Terrorblade’s relentless pressure on the lanes often forced Aster into a defensive positioning.

OG finally managed to find Winter Wyvern in Aster’s own base, causing a collapse in Aster’s formation. Though there were some last-minute heroics from Monet, it wasn’t enough to stop the European team from claiming a 2-0 lead.

OG takes ESL One Malaysia 2022 championship with dominant game three

The third and final game proved to be the climax of the series for OG. Two picks in particular—Shadow Demon and Underlord—proved to be the undoing of Aster’s lineup.

The two teams were neck and neck in the mid-game, but the European squad’s strategy finally started kicking into place. Monet’s Bloodseeker was having an excellent game, and provided a double Rupture combo with Grimstroke. OG executed the age-old strategy of “just TP out”—but with Underlord’s Dark Rift.

Ammar “ATF” Al-Assaf’s Underlord was everywhere, always helping out with Dark Rifts to bring allies in and out of fights. His defensive item choice, rushing the Pipe of Insight, also gimped Aster’s team fight damage potential.

The Shadow Demon further countered Bloodseeker, ruining Aster’s sole hope at coming back. The Aghanim’s Scepter upgrade gave Chu three charges on Demonic Purge, which repeatedly applied Break on Monet.

In the end, Aster was unable to push through the dozens of spells thrown out from OG as they cemented themselves as the ESL One Malaysia 2022 champion after three straight wins.

While OG had a spectacular tournament, Monet was a standout star with some of the best plays of the series. The Chinese team couldn’t get past the finish line this time, but all eyes will be on them and their superstar carry when TI11 rolls around.

READ MORE: Watch Nisha’s Void Spirit go in deep for a kill — and pull out just in time