After a long drought, OG is finally back at the scene of their greatest achievement so far. The Shanghai Major is just around the corner, but OG’s return to the Majors will be under much different auspices than their cinderella run through Frankfurt. Far from being an underdog qualifier team, OG actually go into Shanghai as one of the favorites to take it all. While their play after Frankfurt was not flawless (e.g. The Defense finals), their 3rd place finish at MDL makes it quite clear that OG are in it for the long haul. Only losing to EHOME and EG (arguably the best teams in the East and West, respectively) once the playoffs began is more than sufficient testament that OG are ready to add another trophy to the collection they started in Frankfurt.

This time, however, they will have to face a very different challenge as many teams in attendance will have studied them thoroughly in order to take down the defending champions. Can they overcome the hurdles and become the first team to win back-to-back Major championships?

Gameplay

OG’s play is difficult to categorize neatly due to their extreme versatility. That includes not only the heroes their individual players excel at, but also the tactics they apply to achieve victory. However, one thing their play shares throughout all their games is their heavy reliance on their two-punch of Miracle- and N0tail. Ensuring a good start for either (or in some cases both) of them is of paramount importance to OG, and Fly often utilises drafts which come online quickly to this end. Fly and Cr1t- also spend much of their time making sure that their star players have a good start, be it by dual laning with them and providing direct support, setting up early ganks, or stacking the jungle in preparation for some flash farming later down the road. Should the efforts of their support duo prove insufficient, even Moonmeander might rotate into other lanes to tip the scales in OG’s favor. The resulting heavy pressure often allows OG to score early tower kills or win small skirmishes as they expertly abuse the strengths of their specific timings. While this style of early aggression is the comfort zone from which they prefer to control the game, it is far from their only option. Should the early game go awry, OG are more than able to change gears and start to stall and drag out the game to give themselves more breathing room to catch up. Key to this seemingly fluid switch is the sheer amount of individual skill assembled on OG’s roster.

Although Miracle- and N0tail are often babysat by their teammates, they do not rely on support; sometimes, one of them will even get purposely sacrificed to enable Moonmeander a better game. While getting the short end of the stick during laning is, for many players, an absolute nightmare, N0tail and Miracle- seemingly just shrug it off and recover once the more prioritised team member in turn creates the space necessary for them to catch up. This recovery can best be described as the revolving door of OG. At different stages of the game, different players get priority to farm and level up, with the others dedicated to creating space. Once they reach a threshold (be it levels or items), the priority gets switched up again to enable a different member to farm up. This approach to the game allows OG to keep up constant pressure on opponents, as they have to watch out for each and every peak on any given hero that gets a power spike for the period. It also makes OG’s play highly unpredictable as you will never be quite sure just whom to focus on shutting down. This kind of organised chaos is the environment in which OG thrives. While their enemies stumble around the map trying to counter OG’s plans, OG will move to their own rhythm, always ensuring that the space they control is optimally used until they are ready for the final push.

Players

How to beat - OG

With OG’s reliance on N0tail and Miracle- to make plays, the most obvious solution to taking down OG is shutting either (or preferably both) of them down. Unfortunately, this is much easier said than done. One must not only overcome the tremendous individual skill these two core players have, but also plan for their inevitable recovery. The other threat to this approach is Moonmeander. While you might have successfully shut down the position 1 and 2 players, Moonmeander could easily take over the reins and rampage through your backline, turning teamfights decisively into OG’s favor. Simply speaking, OG are far from a one-trick pony; if one hopes to win against them, it must be done on a much larger level than just “shut down Miracle-”.

The key to defeating OG is disrupting their flow in a decisive fashion. What does that entail? OG’s approach to the game is inherently greedy. It sustains itself by being more efficient around the map, taking objectives, or creating space for their fluid priority to farm up, while keeping up a fighting presence due to a powerspike on another hero. To counteract this, one must either be even greedier, or draft a lineup strong enough to punish OG until they are unable to recover. Either approach rests on several common factors: map control, vision and a strong draft. Whether you try to be more efficient or you want to exploit the temporary weakness OG offer up, you will need map control and vision. Only by maximizing your information about OG’s whereabouts can you make the correct decision on whether to fight or to trade. Informed decisionmaking is the bane of OG’s attempts to stir chaos around the map. This must be coupled together with a strong draft that allows you to fight OG; otherwise all your information will be for naught. The hardest part of defeating OG is the absolute need to be relentless. If you have to invade their jungle time and again to wrest control of it from them, you cannot hesitate. If you have to dive behind several towers, you cannot hesitate; OG will take a mile if you give them an inch, and suddenly all your earlier progress is gone. Taking down OG is most certainly difficult, but it is far from impossible.