New OG roster debuts by crushing opponents in ESL LA qualifiers

Feb 8, 2020

Reading time: 2 min

The new version of OG has made its debut in the open qualifiers to the ESL One Los Angeles Major. As is often the case, OG’s journey started with something of a softball matchup against a team known as Back 2 Bulgaria.

Back 2 Bulgaria isn’t a professional team, but put in a good effort against OG. The highlight for the team came in the early game, which saw SpOTxY hit a nice sunstrike on newly christened OG carry Syed “SumaiL” Hassan. The Bulgarian picked him off with the skillshot, attracting the attention of OG content creator Janne “Gorgc” Stefanovski who was casting the game.

Though Gorgc incorrectly stated the player is ranked at Guardian 2, the Invoker was a comparatively humble Archon 5. Picking off one of Dota 2’s most popular and talented players is likely the highlight of SpOTxY’s entire time spent playing the game.

But this was just about the only highlight for Back 2 Bulgaria in the game. OG thoroughly trounced them from there, scoring frequent kills and amassing a 20,000 net worth lead in just 12 minutes of game time. OG closed out the game with little trouble to advance forward in the open qualifiers.

The competition does get stiffer for OG from here as they start taking on actual pros. OG will next face Team Vrkolak, another Bulgarian squad. The most notable player on the team is Stoyan “SlashStrike” Kralchev, who has played on a number of strong regional teams including Danish Bears and mYinsanity.

If OG can get through Team Vrkolak, they face the winners of No Bounty Hunter vs. Unholy. No Bounty Hunter is headed by former Cloud9 player Pittner “bOne7” Armand, while Unholy includes journeymen players that have competed with various high-profile teams and organizations.

Lucky for OG, the second and third-ranked teams of the open qualifiers are on the other side of the bracket. Godsent and sister team OG Seed are both working their way through the competition, and are likely to face one another to determine who competes in the regional qualifiers.