Topson Talks About Old G’s Poor Performance in DPC 2023 Tour 2

After being disqualified from closed qualifiers, Topias "Topson" Taavitsainen and the Old G team have gained a lot of attention lately with their acquisition of PuckChamp's Division II slot in the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) Western Europe (WEU) 2023. As for why Old G found itself in closed qualifiers in the first place, the team only managed two wins out of seven matches during Tour 2. As Topson discussed the season for the squad with seasoned players like Sébastien "Ceb" Debs, Vladimir "No[o]ne" Minenko, and himself, he said that the squad was far more like individual contributors than a cohesive unit.

Topson highlights issues with Old G’s performance in DPC 2023 Tour 2

On OG's Monkey Business show after the ESL One Berlin Major 2023, Topson was asked about the reasons behind the team's failure in Tour 2. In addition to a lack of team chemistry, he emphasised a lack of meta knowledge and increasing competitiveness in his reasoning.

“I think our idea of the meta and just as a team, we didn’t really gel together. I think you got to have some kind of bootcamp or talk more together, really get to know each other. If it doesn’t click right away, then you at least have to put in more time together like talking a lot. You actually have to talk a lot if you want to get on the same page. The competition is definitely much stronger. It’s not enough if you are just individually good. You have to be a good team.”

Alongside Ceb, No[o]ne, and Topson, Old G also fielded Kartik "Kitrak" Rathi and Roman "Resolut1on" Fomynok, but both only managed to take seventh.

The team had a tiebreaker with PuckChamp to continue in Division II but was disqualified due to the absence of Resolut1on and Kitrak, who were playing as stand-ins for BetBoom Team and OG respectively at the Berlin Major.

Old G, particularly Ceb, expressed dissatisfaction with this decision, and PGL announced recently, after the Major, that the team’s closed qualifier spot had also been revoked for "violating their rules of conduct by threatening members of the admin team and exposing them to public harassment.”

In response to PGL's announcement, Ceb and his team registered themselves on PuckChamp's roster on the Dota 2 Majors Registration Page, replacing Resolut1on with Adam "Aramis" Moroz. Although it's unclear, it's likely that the team purchased the slot from PuckChamp.

Aiming to improve in Tour 3, Topson and the rest of the team will be aiming to play more effectively as a unit, with Ceb possibly playing his trademark offlane role once more. In Tour 3, Division II will begin in June 2023, as the DPC kicks off with Division I in less than a week.