Two-time, back-to-back The Worldwide champions, OG, have simply pulled off the boldest transfer of their historical past by leaving Europe behind and relocating their Dota 2 division to a different area for the primary time. The group’s latest enterprise lands in Southeast Asia, selecting up a full Filipino roster.
Meet OG’s New Squad – Former Group Aureus
As an alternative of trialing a bunch of European stand-ins and hoping one thing sticks, OG have gone for a way more secure method by selecting up a ready-made crew. The org signed your entire Group Aureus stack, which has been making waves in Southeast Asia.
The brand new roster options some very notable names:
John “Natsumi-” Vargas
Erin Jasper “Yopaj” Ferrer
Nikko “Drive” Bilocura
Timothy “TIMS” Randrup
Andrei “skem” Ong
Regardless of being comparatively new to the composition, most of those Filipino gamers have teamed up in some unspecified time in the future of their careers, so the chemistry is already established. As Aureus, they’ve already examined themselves in Tier 1 environments like BLAST Slam IV, the place they put up a stable battle and completed within the prime eight, only one sequence shy from qualifying for the primary occasion.
The squad has additionally punched their ticket to PGL Wallachia Season 6 by dominating the SEA Closed Qualifiers, that means they have already got plans for his or her worldwide debut below the legendary OG banner.
A Resolution to Monetary Woes
Getting a practical roster is one half of the story, however cash is the opposite. OG’s 2024 monetary report revealed a stark actuality: almost €3 million in losses, primarily on account of workers prices and underperforming lineups throughout a number of titles.
Shifting their flagship Dota division to SEA is, on paper, a a lot leaner transfer. Participant salaries and help prices in SEA – particularly within the Philippines – are usually decrease than in Western Europe. Bootcamps and journey are additionally considerably cheaper and simpler to take care of.
Hoping for Dedication this Time
For the previous few years, OG has been caught, mixing and matching gamers in makes an attempt at new rebuilds. After TI14, OG publicly said that they had “religion” of their then-current roster and needed to decide to them for the following 12 months, solely to drop all of them a month later.
Such a historical past has made it arduous for diehard OG followers to purchase into yet one more “new period,” however issues actually look totally different this time. The transfer to SEA appears to be like extra dedicated on paper, particularly with OG already working Selangor Crimson Giants OG Esports (SRG.OG) – an especially profitable Cell Legends roster based mostly in Malaysia.
Contemplating that SEA’s prime crew, Talon Esports, is not within the combine, the area is vast open for a brand new dominant squad. OG definitely has the expertise to step into that new place of energy and set up itself as the following huge SEA crew.
