OG, one of the most prominent companies in Dota 2, announced its first CS: GO roster today.
The company spent a lot of money on at least three players: Nathan“NBK-” Schmitt, formerly on Vitality, Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen, former captain of ENCE, and Valdemar “valde” Bjørn, North’s star player for the last two years.
Issa “ISSAA” Murad and newcomer Mateusz “Mantuu” Wilczewski from ALTERNATE aTTaXcomplete OG’s lines, who has been benched by HellRaisers ever since September.
OG has been negotiating with these players for a couple of months. During the process, the org reportedly targeted Valentin “poizon” Vasilev, who ended up signing with Complexity, and Elias “Jamppi” Olkkonen, who allegedly has an old VAC-ban account that may prohibit him from participating in CS: GO Majors.
“CS: GO represents everything we love about esports: it is beautiful and amazing to watch, the level of competition is incredible and growing every season,” OG said.
Most fans will be curious to see if Aleksib will make this roster as good as his previous ENCE squad. All hands will be on valde, too, to see if he can play like a top-20 player in the world again. His individual form deteriorated over his last few months with North since taking over the in-game leader role.
OG is now the third big company to join the CS: GO scene with a well-known lineup. Evil Geniuses acquired NRG’s roster in September and 100 Thieves signed Renegades’ lineup in October. Dignitas is reportedly returning to Counter-Strike with a lineup composed of Swedish veterans Patrik “f0rest” Lindberg and Christopher “GeT RiGhT” Alesund.
Regardless of whether OG’s lineup pays off, expectations will be higher due to the calibre of its players and the org’s success in Dota 2 as back-to-back International champions.
