MANILA — In a landmark move in the Dota 2 scene, two-time The International (TI) champion OG has moved to the Southeast Asian region and will be backing an all-Filipino roster composed of John "Natsumi-" Vargas, Erin Jasper "Yopaj" Ferrer, Nikko "Nikko" Bilocura, Timothy "Tims" Randrup, and Andrei "skem" Ong.
The esports organization announced the development Saturday evening.
OG, known for its exploits as back-to-back winner of the TI 2018 and 2019 and victor of triumphant runs in multiple Majors, including the Manila Major in 2016, has taken a bold step, leaving the ever-competitive Western Europe in hopes of turning its tide in the SEA region.
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The core OG players, most especially Sebastien "Ceb" Debs, Johan "Notail" Sundstein, and Jesse "JerAx" Vainikka, are known to be admirers of Filipino voice chats, such as the famed "Lakad Matatag" and "Echo Slamma Jamma," and are self-admitted fans of the country since their Manila Major run.
It might be a surprise that they ventured in SEA, but not so shocking that they acquired an all-Filipino roster to continue bannering the OG Dota they built.
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"...Manila, where we became the first team to win two majors, and where our legend was truly born," expressed Notail in a video made available by OG. "OG was still a child, and we were far from knowing that our great legacy would be much greater than what we had just achieved. Far from knowing that Manila, the Philippines, and the Southeast Asia would mean so much to us."
"For as long as it has existed, Dota has always had a home in the Philippines. Now, it will become a home, too," the legendary support player added.
Adam "343" Shah, a Malaysian coach, will be supervising the now-Filipino squad.