OG play carry Io to win series at The International 2019

gabhernandez Published 18/08/2019

Defending champions OG stomped Ninjas in Pyjamas with a wildly unconventional draft.

In the first game of its series against the European rival, OG drafted Shadow Demon, Treant Protector, Io, Axe, and Windranger. Fans and Dota 2 experts were surprised over the lack of a carry hero on the team, but were absolutely shocked when OG opted to put Anatham “ana” Pham on Io for the game.

The biggest stunner of all came when the strategy actually worked. Twice.

The plan initially looked like it was going to backfire. NiP created a significant net worth advantage over OG with successful map rotations. The team repeatedly picked off OG’s core players and dictated the game’s tempo.

However, a clash near one of OG’s shrines turned into a bloodbath that swung the momentum. Ana kept mid laner Topias “Topson” Taavitsainen’s Windranger alive using Tether and a Heart of Tarrasque build, which provided incredible HP regeneration alongside Jesse “JerAx” Vainikka’s Treant Protector.

Ninjas in Pyjamas’ early lead evaporated over time and the team wound up with its back against the wall. Ana and Topson destroyed NiP’s tier-four towers through backdoor protection and closed out the game with an Io Ultra Kill.

OG went back to that well in game two.

Once again, Ninjas in Pyjamas dominated the laning phase.The game started with three kills surrounding the first bounty runes, which was followed by strong showings from Martin “Saksa” Sazdov and Neta “33” Shapira.

By 25 minutes Ninjas in Pyjamas racked up a 9,000 net worth advantage, but OG did not back down. OG won a team fight around the Roshan pit, took the Aegis of the Immortal, and went straight to the opponent’s base.

33 tried to trade objectives with OG by split pushing but he was no match against Ana’s Io and Topson’s Troll Warlord, who charged the Ancient and took the win.

Across the two games, Ana posted a 20-7 K/D. Expect a slew of pub players to emulate this strategy, and enrage teammates when it fails.

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