Cover-Credits:
In a historic turn of events, OG, widely regarded as the most successful Dota 2 organization in history, has encountered its first-ever failure to secure a spot at The International (TI). The organization has been a consistent presence at Dota 2's premier tournament since it was founded by Johan "N0tail" Sundstein in late 2015, boasting two championship victories. However, in the TI12 Western Europe (WEU) qualifier, OG faced a surprising defeat, losing 2-1 to Quest Esports in the lower bracket.
OG appeared on the brink of a 2-0 series victory, but Quest's strategic RAT (split push) tactics in the critical moments of game one thwarted their efforts. With the series now tied at 1-1, game three witnessed OG opting for a high-tempo lineup, aiming to secure victory swiftly. However, Quest mounted a formidable defense and ultimately emerged victorious.
With this unexpected elimination, OG's journey in the qualifier ends, while Quest advances to the next lower bracket round, where they will face Team Secret.
OG vs Quest Esports: Match recap and highlights
Recap
Game 1 was a classic TI qualifier battle that lasted more than 60 minutes. It was mostly even, with both sides enjoying stable drafts. Yuragi on Medusa was strong for OG, while TA2000 and No!ob were doing well for Quest. With the networth equal at 44 minutes, Quest's significant teamfight triumph saw it unexpectedly rise to 22k networth at the 47th minute mark. It appeared that Quest had finally gained an insurmountable advantage, but OG held its own for a long time, refusing to let Quest conclude the game. Yuragi was delivering massive damage, and OG managed to come out just ahead in teamfights so many times over the following 40 minutes that Quest was forced to make a RAT move with all three cores. With Glyph on cooldown, the three heroes went all in on OG's naked Ancient and brought it down in seconds around the 87 minute mark, before any of its heroes could teleport and stop the assault.
In game 2, Quest went with an all-ranged roster that included a carry Templar Assassin, a mid Puck, and an offlane Visage. With some high burst damage available early on, the squad found kills and gained a slight advantage. Yuragi, on the other hand, farmed rapidly on Terrorblade with the support of Ceb's Io, allowing him to engage in teamfights early. In this game, OG displayed an even greater proficiency in preventing Quest from increasing its networth through flawless teamfight execution and intelligent itemization. Constant skirmishing from both teams resulted in kills, but OG was highly meticulous in approaching the enemy highground and negating opponent damage with heals and auras to win in 58 minutes.
In game 3, OG chose Luna to carry a lineup that revolved around her. Because Quest also had a carry Naga Siren, a mid Invoker, and an offlane Earthshaker - all heroes that needed some items to have an effect - OG needed to come out on top in lanes and then prioritize objectives to end early. While the team had a good start, it focused more on farming, which gave Quest time to get stronger. OG did attempt an early high ground attack but it quickly realized that its opponents possessed top-tier defense and retreated. With a few kills here and there, Quest began to develop a lead, and when all of its heroes had enough items, it went head to head with OG, defeating it in a handful of teamfights to win in 44 minutes.
Highlights
Here are some highlights of the series.
The streak of successfully navigating tense situations and making it to TI over and over again finally comes to an end for OG at TI12’s WEU qualifier. Overall, OG had a rough year as it only managed one Major out of three and also performed poorly at other regional tournaments. Players went in and out of the roster this year as well, which made things even more challenging.
In a final attempt to make it work, veterans Sébastien "Ceb" Debs and Kartik "Kitrak" Rathi joined the team just before the qualifier. However, the momentum and consistency were not simply not there. While the team will now be on a break now over the next few months, its roster situation will be among the more interesting ones to watch after TI12.
Quest, on the other hand, survives to fight another day and will face a formidable opponent in Team Secret in the next round of the lower bracket on 31st August 2023.
