When FaZe won PGL Antwerp in 2022 they made history, becoming the first international roster to lift a Major trophy. It was the end of a long road for international rosters since the first one to attend a Major was Kinguin at ESL Cologne 2015. FaZe still leads the way, but at the IEM Rio Major there will be several other international rosters that have been built up with players from different countries, different cultures, and with different native languages. One of them is OG, a newer organization in CS:GO that entered the scene in 2019 with a roster built around Finnish in-game leader Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen, but that no longer has any of its founding players.
The OG banner may not have been present at any Majors, but the current team does have experience on the big stage. Nemanja “nexa” Isaković was a part of the G2 team that became the PGL Major Stockholm villains by beating hometown heroes of Ninjas in Pyjamas in front of the local crowd, and the in-game leader is not the only one with experience on a Major stage. Abdul “degster” Gasanov was a part of Spirit’s semi-final Cinderella story at the PGL Major in Antwerp, where he performed to a high standard on a very young underdog team.
G2 was looking to make a leadership change at the beginning of the year and OG was struggling to break into the top tier, which prompted the perfect conditions for a one-to-one trade. nexa for Aleksib. Two IGLs known for very different styles, nexa based on freedom and Aleksib on structure. The swap wasn’t something that is seen often in CS:GO and it sparked a discussion about who would get the better end of the deal.
In the early days after nexa‘s arrival, OG did look like a better side. The renewed roster made it through the IEM Katowice Play-in and qualified for the PGL Major Anwterp RMR event in Bucharest, Romania. It wasn’t just the overall team performance that improved, his calling style began to unlock one of his young stars, Shahar “flameZ” Shushan, and the young Israeli rifler went from a 1.01 rating against top five opponents under Aleksib to a 1.12 rating under nexa.
nexa‘s biggest impact was the systemic change that his freedom-based calling created, which was also a part of what drew in OG‘s future star AWPer. “The most important thing I heard from them when I joined the team to stand in was, ‘you can do whatever you want and we will adapt for you,'” degster said after playing with OG for the first time. “I never heard that before.”
OG have carved out a new identity under nexa’s leadership
nexa‘s first four months as OG‘s IGL with the core of Mateusz “mantuu” Wilczewski, Valdemar “valde” Bjørn Vangså and Nikolaj “niko” Kristensen were not entirely successful once things settled. The initial climb to 10th place in the world ranking was followed with a drop that almost went beyond the top 20 threshold. The squad failed to qualify for the PGL Antwerp Major and the team’s face was changed with the removal of two players from the original lineup. Instead of recruiting well-known names in the scene that fit the mold of valde and niko, with top tier experience, OG decided to invest in young prospects.
OG had already made a blueprint when signing flameZ from Endpoint, an investment that has paid off with the young Israeli now a core member of the roster with an average rating of 1.11 since joining the team in 2021. So OG found two players who fit the mold of high potential, good tier-two showings, and were young enough to reach that potential in the future. Maciej “F1KU” Miklas joined from AGO and Adam “NEOFRAG” Zouhar from SINNERS.
These investments for the future paid off a lot quicker than expected and OG qualified for a Major on their first try with the new lineup. F1KU, one of the newcomers, was a particularly big piece in the team’s successful RMR run with a 1.12 rating. By changing their core identity, OG went from a well-known team with disappointing results to a young underdog squad punching above their weight.
NEOFRAG and F1KU quickly made an impact in OG
A huge reason OG qualified for the Major was smart decision-making when building this roster, from choosing an IGL that could redefine the team’s style to the investments into young players. However, the most impactful decision that OG may have possibly made is pouncing on the chance to sign degster whilst already having a serviceable AWPer on the books. mantuu was a player that did his job well, averaging a 1.13 rating, but OG obtained a franchise player when they signed the Russian sniper.
degster had said he wanted to play on an international team after leaving Spirit, and during his stand-in performance at BLAST Premier Spring Finals — where he put up a 1.16 rating in the team’s 3rd-4th place finish —, it became clear that OG would be a good fit. degster has put up a strong 1.14 rating since joining in July, although with a limited sample size.
OG have found a franchise player in degster
OG is a hungry team whose full potential is yet to be seen, comprised of an IGL with something to prove after being discarded despite leading his team to a Major final, a star AWPer who wants to prove himself on a European team, and a young core all given their first chance in the top tier. It may seem like they have reached goals ahead of schedule when taking into consideration the team’s youth, but that is not necessarily the case. “I think qualifying for this one was a must,” nexa told HLTV. “I expected us to make it to the previous one, but unfortunately we failed. Either way, I told OG when I joined that within a year I’d get them to their first Major.”
From what OG have shown so far, they are constantly improving and it would not be shocking if they make it through the first stage. nexa relished being on the wrong side of the crowd in Stockholm and degster got the crowd on his side in Antwerp, but the biggest question mark remains: How will the youngsters react to playing a Major for the first time? IEM Rio Major is a big step up for this OG roster, but now is the time for them to prove that they are set up to be the perfect underdog story.
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