OG Esports looks set to announce CSGO roster with Aleksib, NBK

After months of rumors, longtime top Dota 2 team OG seems ready to announce its inaugural Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team.

The organization teased the reveal on Twitter, stating it has a big announcement for December 4, but didn’t want to “rush (b)” its announcements.

This was preceded by a change to its username on Twitter, which now reads “unnamed team.” This is a reference to news articles discussing the transfer of Valdemar “valde” Bjørn Vangså from North to an “unnamed team.” North seemingly confirmed this in a reply on Twitter.

Previous rumors have indicated that OG’s CSGO roster will be a strong one:

• Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen
• Nathan “NBK” Schmitt
• Mateusz “mantuu“ Wilczewski
• Valdemar “valde” Bjørn Vangså
• Issa “ISSAA” Murad

Reports of an OG CSGO roster surfaced as early as May 2019, with several leaks pointing to former ENCE in-game leader Aleksib as the leader of the new squad. It was also reported that the in-game leader turned down an offer worth at least $1 million from North American organization Complexity Gaming. Aleksib’s decision raised eyebrows and suggested that there was something big in the works behind the scenes.

NBK is set to join after a falling out with Team Vitality in September. Despite being one of France’s most accomplished players and standing as one of the best inactive players in the game, things have been largely quiet regarding NBK outside rumors of him joining OG.

Valde is seemingly confirmed to be joining OG after splitting from North. The team benched Valde in October, around the same time that the original reports surfaced that he was a target for the OG roster. If all three players prove to be on OG, it will see the team with three former in-game leaders on its roster.

Mantuu and ISSAA aren’t as well established at the top of the scene, but are also believed to be joining OG despite having fewer accomplishments to their names.

ISSAA started his professional CS career with HellRaisers in 2017 before the team deactivated him after the StarLadder Berlin Major. For AWPer mantuu, OG marks a huge step up. The young star comes to OG from ALTERNATE aTTax, which he helped towards six first-place finishes since the start of 2019.

OG likely to join 100 Thieves, Evil Geniuses in joining CSGO

OG’s entrance into CSGO has been a terribly kept secret, with confirmation effectively coming when a Danish company was registered under the name “OG CSGO” on November 5. According to public records, OG CSGO is a subsidiary of the original OG organization.

After several years of organizations dropping Counter-Strike from their portfolios, 2019 has seen several companies either reopen their Counter-Strike divisions or enter the scene for the first time. OG follows 100 Thieves, Evil Geniuses, GODSENT, and Team Secret as the latest multi-game organization to adopt a CSGO team.

OG is statistically the most successful organization in Dota 2, having won four majors and both The International 2018 and 2019. CEO and Dota 2 team captain Johan “N0tail” Sundstein will look to expand his brand’s overwhelming success to the first-person shooter.