OG advances to the PGL Wallachia Season 6 playoffs. Photo from PGL Esports
MANILA — OG continues to defy odds and expectations in the Dota 2 professional scene.
The five-man Pinoy squad of John "Natsumi-" Vargas, Erin Jasper "Yopaj" Ferrer, Nikko "Nikko" Bilocura, Timothy "Tims" Randrup, and Andrei "skem" Ong will be advancing to the PGL Wallachia Season 6 playoffs after completing a reverse sweep against South America-based crew Heroic, 2-1, in the Swiss Stage on Tuesday evening (Manila time).
OG, the first organization to win The International (TI) titles, is now banking on this Pinoy roster to continue its legacy in the esport.
And it's off to a decent start, as Natsumi and company are headed to their first-ever playoffs under the OG banner—most importantly, ending the organization's drought of not advancing to the playoff bracket in recent memory.
READ: OG banks on all-Filipino roster to continue Dota 2 legacy
In the clinching match, after forcing a decider at 1-1, OG found the pivotal skirmish on the top side of the map that erected a 10k gold lead, 27 minutes into the match, as it killed off the Morphling, Venomancer, Axe, and Jakiro, while only sacrificing skem's Chen.
They snowballed since then, keeping the map of Heroic restricted while sustaining the pressure on the tower push and kills.
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OG found another favorable clash, this time in Heroic's base at the 37-minute mark, where they found the kills on the Axe and the Tuskar.
As they threatened the "good game" push, OG forced the buyback on the Morphling. They killed him just minutes later that coerced the "gg" on the South Americans, marking the Filipinos' breakthrough playoffs appearance in a major tournament.
Yopaj's Nature's Prophet finished with a massive 16-3-19 kill-death-assist tally, while Nikko was there with the 10-3-15 KDA, also an efficient one on his Primal Beast.
But it was skem who shined in Game 3, as he was named the standout player on his Chen by stabilizing the team's healing and paving the way for the carries to shine.
Skem argued that they entered the tourney without expectations—that's why they are overperforming now.
"I think we don't really have expectations. We feel good, of course, we broke the OG curse," said skem.