A Surprising N0tail Chen Pick Leads OG to a Close Win Over Team Nigma

N0tail has caught Team Nigma on the hop with a crazy, widely regarded as “Out of Meta and Dead” Chen hero to help OG take a 2-1 series win in The International (TI) Western Europe Qualifier (WEU). As is expected, the series between these two titans of Dota 2 proved to be a nip and tuck affair; however, OG managed to emerge stronger in game one and game three. True OG Dota was displayed in the teamfights as they outplayed Team Nigma. N0tail and his teammates remain in the upper bracket and will now square off with Tundra Esports to make it to the grand final, while Team Nigma falls to the lower bracket.

OG vs Team Nigma: Match Recap and Highlights

Recap

In Game 1, OG outplayed Nigma in all departments. By stacking 28 camps in total, their supports ensured their cores had a successful game. Ceb played a superb game on his offlane Axe, not only farming efficiently but also pulling off some stunning Calls. N0tail also made a "Dead” Chen hero work out as Nigma was caught with their pants down against the aggression presented by OG, losing the game in 34 minutes.

In Game 2, both teams engaged in constant laning combat. OG ramped up the pressure with their burst potential, picking off heroes one by one. Even though Nigma fought back, they were losing on networth. But OG's couple of overextensions took a heavy toll as Nigma jumped on the opportunity to make a comeback, establish a gigantic lead and take the win in 42 minutes.

Game 3 saw Team Nigma emerge ahead in the laning phase. A safelane Nature's Prophet and a mid Templar Assassin controlled a large portion of the map. Nigma appeared to be on its way to taking the second Roshan and making this lead even bigger, but OG did an incredible job teamfighting and outplaying Nigma. iLTW’s decision to skip BKB also cost them as things went downhill after losing that crucial Roshan teamfight, losing the game in 34 minutes.

Highlights

Here are some highlights of the series.

OG has played incredible Dota 2 in two series in two days in TI10’s WEU qualifier and it certainly looks like the team is on top form. Over the past six months, they have continued to bring out their bizarre draft style, but their game execution was not on point, making these ideas look lackluster. Now, however, the stars are aligning, as OG is truly looking frightening. In particular, Ceb has been killing it on his offlane performances. The matchup against Tundra Esports will be one to watch since they have also been playing incredibly well in TI10’s WEU qualifier.

Team Nigma did not play poorly today but in those crucial moments, they were outplayed. In some of the teamfights, it was a game of margins, and it could have gone in their favor as well. Falling to the lower bracket means that they now have a tougher road on that last remaining TI10 slot. Their next series will be against Spider Pigzs.