Two time TI champions OG have done surprisingly well so far in the TI10 group stage, so well in fact that they landed a spot in the upper bracket of the main event.
The team had a lackluster DPC season leading up to TI after failing to qualify for both Majors. Barely making it to TI10 through the European Regional Qualifier, OG impressed fans with their solid performance during the TI10 group stage.
Catching some teams completely off guard with their sudden boost in performance, what are they doing that’s working so well?
1. They are masters of the macro game
One element of OG’s success is their ability to always find farm as a team. Pure skill can get you far in a game of Dota 2, but being well equipped will take you even further, and they understand this 100%.
OG’s outstanding ability to farm lies in their draft
When people talk about good farming, the first thing that usually comes to mind is the laning stage, jungling, and farming patterns. What many players forget is that team composition plays a big role in whether your team can farm freely.
Right from the drafting stage during the TI10 group stage, OG not only put together a lineup that can deal with their opponents draft, but also ensure the drafted heroes won’t take farm away from each other.
For instance, you’ll never see both Syed Sumail “SumaiL” Hassan and Topias Miikka “Topson” Taavitsainen on heroes who’d end up competing for farm in the same areas on the map.
It’s this aspect of the draft that helps OG get their core items in a timely manner whilst not impeding on SumaiL’s farm.
- PSG.LGD breaks OG’s fastest game record at TI10 just two hours later
- Invictus Gaming went Super Saiyan after this timely pause on Day 1 at TI10
2. They know how to draw attention away from their farming carry
It goes without saying that in Dota 2, the carry or position one player is generally regarded as the win condition. Usually teams will target their opponent’s carry player to delay or even deny them a chance of coming online.
To prevent this early game pressure from happening during the TI10 group stage, OG will take the game into their own hands and consistently annoy and harass their opponents with non-stop ganks and tower pressure.
They’re so good at it that their opponents will be too pre-occupied to deal with SumaiL, who’ll be too busy farming away, to the point that he doesn’t need his minimap.
OG are known for taunting, and it’s absolutely intentional
You know OG are playing if the casters are fighting to talk over their tilting chat wheel spam. It’s very possible that they taunt their opponents on purpose so that they fall for their diversion.
Anyone who has played against a spammer knows how it feels. It’s annoying as heck, can tilt all but the most resilient players, taunts opponents into wanting to chase you, and works as a motivational battle cry for the team. All this with the press of a button.
3. They want you to play reactive
During the TI10 group stage, teams that struggled the most against OG were the ones who played reactively rather than proactively. This is their signature playstyle that throws off many of their opponents.
Teams are stuck fighting on OG’s terms
One of the big advantages of being able to instigate fights is that you choose what terms your opponents are fighting on. You’re basically deciding the what, where, and why of the fight for them.
If you go back and watch past True Sight documentaries featuring OG, you’ll see why this playstyle suits them so well based off their team communication.
Captain Johan “N0tail” Sundstein and Sébastien “Ceb” Debs are both seasoned Dota 2 veterans. With their knowledge, they’re able to guide their team to capitalize on even the tiniest of openings.
The few times OG looked lackluster during their TI10 group stage matches was when teams were able to wrestle control away from them. Take away their control, and you have all the power.
Aui_2000 is confident in OG’s roster for TI10 main event
Concluding the TI10 group stage, analyst Kurtis “Aui_2000” Ling voiced positive thoughts during a segment on the TI10 main stream about OG’s roster going into the main event.
Though the team this year is missing Anathan “ana” Pham and Jesse “JerAx” Vainikka from the original roster, Aui feels that the team will be a strong contender for the main event with the addition of Martin “Saksa” Sazdov and SumaiL.
Hungry for more Dota 2? Check out the Heroes of the Game documentary presented by foodpanda.
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