ana out of OG for rest of season, replacement likely coming soon

About one week before their official return to professional Dota 2 action to defend their The International title,  OG has no carry player.

The TI champions announced on Twitter that Anthan “ana” Pham will be out for the remainder of the season. OG is currently set to make its return in the open qualifiers of the ESL One Los Angeles Major.

“Our carry player and Io god, ana, will extend his break and come back for the next season,” OG said on Twitter. “Rest well Anathan!”

ana taking an extended break from Dota 2 is likely no surprise to fans. Each year since 2017, ana has taken an extended break from competitive action following The International. After The International 2017, he wound up a free agent before finding himself back on OG ahead of their run through The International 2018. After TI8, he took another break, which saw OG substitute in multiple other carry players who failed to fill his shoes.

Following The International 2019, the entirety of OG took an extended break, with team captain and owner Johan “N0tail” Sundstein using that time to open up a new Counter-Strike: Global Offensive division within the organization. The organization also opened a new Dota 2 sister team, OG Seed.

The team eventually stated that OG would return to action for the ESL One Los Angeles Major. Multiple players associated with their team acknowledged this, but ana has been silent on social media since November.

Gorgc scrimming with OG ahead of ESL One Los Angeles return

OG had a serious void in the 2018-2019 Dota Pro Circuit season following ana’s departure. The organization fielded Igor “iLTW” Filatov and Per Anders Olsson “Pajkatt” Lille at the carry position, but struggled in a number of different events before welcoming back ana.

OG did not officially announce who would be replacing ana, but the organization was recently spotted playing with Swedish player Janne “Gorgc” Stefanovski.Gorgc is primarily known as a streamer, but he has played on a number of professional teams in the past. He most recently played for streamer team Sir Sadim’s Stunners in Midas Mode 2.0, but likely found his greatest success in 2017 playing for Horde. If Gorgc is actually being brought in as OG’s new carry player, it would mark his first time with a prominent organization.

As for ana, though OG stated he will be taking a break for the remainder of the season, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him return later in the season, or reunite with OG if the team struggles to post results.