Get Dunked: OG

The Frankfurt Major Champions

Original Gangsters, Orangutan Ganja, Over-rated Gamers, Olympic Gays; it doesn't matter what OG stands for, they're the team on everyone's lips right now. Their incredible run in The Frankfurt Major saw them crowned champions after battling all the way through the loser's bracket in scenes not too dissimilar to Speed Gaming's run at MLG Columbus. No one expected it during the group stages but everyone, except the die hard Team Secret fans, were cheering OG on by the end.

"Congratulations to OG for winning the first Dota 2 Major Championship. They came from the Regional Qualifiers, and went through a seemingly impossible road starting in the Lower Bracket and going through all the way to the Grand Finals. On their way to victory they took down Fnatic, Mineski, Virtus Pro, CDEC Gaming, EHOME and Evil Geniuses. In the Grand Finals they faced off against Team Secret and took the series 3-1."

It's hard to analyse the reasons behind OG's victory as much of it was due to individual pieces of brilliance (Miracle's Alch twice picking of Arteezy's Anti-Mage, Moon's Clock making seemingly suicidal jumps against Secret) but much can be attributed to the defensive support play of Fly and Cr1t. It's easy to see on reflection how important the Dazzle, Winter Wyvern, Io, and Tusk were to OG's drafts, especially when paired with how squishy Shadow Fiend, Gyrocopter, and even Alchemist are in the early to mid game. What's not expected with drafts centered around supports protecting high damage dealing, but squishy, carries is aggression. OG would use the high early to mid-game damage output of heroes like Shadow Fiend, Gryocopter, Io, Tusk and Earthshaker to place pressure on their opponents, gaining map control and taking fights. The beauty of their drafts is that they often remain relevant into late game; they found success in a two core lineup with N0Tail and Miracle rather than the four protect one lineup teams like Secret or EG gravitated towards during the tournament.

It's been a long time.

Individually, it's hard not to feel that the players deserve their success. With the exception of Miracle, the other members of OG have been slogging away in the pro scene for years; N0Tail and Fly playing together for years on Fnatic, and then Secret, before parting ways in Secret's reshuffle; Cr1t playing, and being severely under-rated, on multiple tier 2/3 teams; MoonMeander transitioning from HoN later than others, then struggling with Complexity, leaving and re-joining. Combine that dedication with 8000 matchmaing points and you have a recipe for success.

Congratulations OG, that was one hell of a tournament. Bring on the Shanghai Major in March 2016!