Cover-Credits:
Over the years, OG has cultivated some of the finest Dota 2 players, starting with Amer "Miracle-" Al-Barkawi with the gradual rise of notable names such as Anathan "ana" Pham, Topias "Topson" Taavitsainen, Ammar "ATF" Al-Assaf, and others. In a recent interview with OG's linchpin Sébastien "Ceb" Debs during Elite League 2024, he explained the organization's recruiting and scouting process. In Ceb's opinion, they take longer to finalize a player because they look at various angles apart from MMR while placing a special emphasis on how the player views trust. Occasionally, when a collaboration does not work out, it might seem like time wasted, but Ceb said it is important to consider the instances when this process has turned out well.
Ceb emphasizes the significance of trust in the process of recruiting pro players for OG.
The quality of "trust" is crucial to how the organization builds the roster later on, which Ceb said was one of the angles the organization looks at when selecting a player over a period of time.
“I mean we obviously spend a lot of time scouting people. The process of getting somebody on the team is perhaps longer than in other teams. We just don’t look at MMR and things like that even though these are things we take into account. We try to understand how the person functions and how they think they view the game and what does being a teammate mean to them because that’s really an important part of being able to build. I don’t know how it is in other teams but in OG, we require a lot of trust from people - to each other, to the process, to the team, to the culture we have in general.”
According to Ceb, this approach differs from the typical recruitment methods of other teams, which has made OG experience a mixed bag of successes and failures. However, when it works out well, the results are particularly favorable.
“Sometimes it clicks very easily and people just tag along right away and they feel they found the home they were looking for. Sometimes, it’s a little bit longer. Sometimes, it does not work, unfortunately. But you only realize after you have tried hard enough on both sides. So, you have got to be willing to commit. Yeah, you waste time sometimes but I would rather look at when it works and then everything would. And sometimes it does not and it’s just life. I think giving it a fair try is all that matters because it does not leave anyone with a bitter taste. That’s what matters the most at the end of the day.”
The current roster for OG also includes some young and new faces, but the start has not been as promising. Despite the bumpy road so far, Ceb said that the team will improve since its peak is much higher.
“I think we have had ups and downs. I don’t think we are peaking ourselves really yet. We are still building together. It’s going better. Today was a good day. Hopefully, we can keep that trend up. I think we are not showing yet what this team is capable of. We have a lot to show.”
Additionally, Ceb discussed the cancellation of the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC), stating that it allowed a team to participate at their will since it opened the season up to multiple tournaments. In the event of burnout, teams like OG have the option of giving some tournaments a pass, which is different from the DPC when it became mandatory due to the season's structure.
