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Dota 2: OG reveal how they built new roster in 'Road to TI' documentary

OG's new Dota 2 roster: Artem
OG's new Dota 2 roster: Artem "Yuragi" Golubiev, Bozhidar "bzm" Bogdanov, Ammar "AMMAR_THE_F" Al-Assaf, Tommy "Taiga" Le, and Mikhail "Misha" Agatov. (Photo: OG)

OG Esports are one of the best Dota 2 organizations when it comes to showcasing their players and their journey through a variety of content.

The team are back at it again with the "Road to The International" documentary series, which shines a light on their journey through The International 10 (TI10) and beyond.

The latest installment in the series called, “Road to The International: A New Beginning,” details how OG rebuilt their roster after their TI10 squad disbanded and gives great insight into how the organisation seamlessly transitioned from a two-time TI-winning core to a rising young squad that is brimming with championship potential themselves.

The new OG built around Misha’s vision

The current captain of the team, Mikhail "Misha" Agatov, originally joined the squad as its coach in the days leading up to TI10.

After the tournament concluded, and with OG rebuilding their team from scratch, Misha wanted to lead the new squad as their captain.

"I planned to create a very strong team and I explained a bit how it's going to look like. And I said that it's gonna be very aggressive and strong and powerful and how it's going to play, how it's gonna train, how it's gonna practice. And I just had the image of a very strong Dota team," said Misha.

Johan "N0tail" Sundstein explained that the new OG roster began with Misha and was built based on what Misha wanted to do and how the organization could enable that.

After discussing things with the new captain and seeing all their options, Tommy "Taiga" Le was approached to join the team.

Misha shared his opinion on the second half of OG’s support duo, “First of all, [Taiga] is like a generator of ideas. You can see a lot of crazy combos in Dota and throughout the season you’re gonna like to have him with you, not against you.”

After securing both support roles, Misha needed to find three cores to fill the roster. The carry role is often the main deciding factor during the late game in Dota 2 and therefore Misha decided it would be best to start there.

And that was when Artem "Yuragi" Golubiev was recruited into the team as their carry.

A relative newcomer to the pro scene, Yuragi started his Dota 2 career in 2020 and won several small-scale online tournaments. It was a massive opportunity for the 20-year old player.

After securing their carry, OG moved on to finding a midlaner and settled on Bozhidar "bzm" Bogdanov. Bzm is the youngest Dota 2 pro player in the entire Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) at just 16-years old.

Despite his youth and relative inexperience, N0tail had high praise for the young midlaner.

"I think [bzm] has a very good feeling for the game. A bit shy at first and then once he gets out of the shell, he becomes quite good with words, much better than I was at that age," said N0tail.

Last but certainly not least was OG’s new offlaner, Ammar "ATF" Al-Assaf, who couldn’t make it to the bootcamp.

ATF was the youngest player in history to join the DPC at the age of 15, when he became a member of Division II team Creepwave in 2021.

He also has an interesting approach to the offlane, regularly focusing on his farm and ensuring he maintains his impact in the late game.

N0tail said that that was one of ATF’s strengths.

"Ammar was a very attractive choice, he was approached by many teams and I think his very unique read on this patch and his heroes and how to scale, made him a very attractive choice because I don't think teams knew anything about how he was as a teammate, how he was as a person. I would say that was the main attraction," N0tail said.

"If you become good friends, you can also become a good team"

The new OG squad have been steadily growing stronger throughout the DPC.

OG placed fourth in the Winter Tour, which was enough to qualify for the Regional Finals, and played some sensational Dota 2 over that period, such as when they stomped Team Secret in their opener.

The team continued to impress Dota 2 fans by defeating Tundra Esports and placing third in the Winter Regionals Finals.

In the ongoing Spring Tour, OG have improved yet again and are the first team in the region to secure their ticket to the Stockholm Major.

Their success in the Spring Tour will also provide the team with valuable DPC points that determine which teams receive a direct invite to The International 11.

All this success goes back to OG’s approach to competitive Dota 2.

Instead of focusing on big names and established rosters, OG invest in rising stars and try to provide them with the best environment for them to flourish.

N0tail sums it up best at the end of the video

"I want to say that over the years we've inspired people to play or believe that good Dota can be played even without a massive amount of experience, or just with a group that believes if you become good friends, you can also become a good team," he said.

Otomo is a long-time gaming enthusiast and caster. He has been playing games since he was 10 and is the biggest Dota 2 fan.

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