OG are the only team to have ever won The International twice, more so, they did it back-to-back in 2018 and 2019 setting a record unlikely to be shattered anytime soon.
Their road to The International 2018 (TI8) was documented in all media spaces over the years, but the whole story is told the best by the players themselves in Against The Odds, the documentary presented by Red Bull.
TI8 marked the first edition when the pinnacle Dota 2 event was hosted somewhere else than Seattle, Washington. Valve didn’t go too far away from home for their first event outside the US and organized The International 2018 in Vancouver, Canada at Rogers Arena. It was an even numbered year, and for the Dota 2 world that meant that everyone was expecting a Chinese team to win.
However, after an awful season that led to a lifetime friendship falling apart and nearly a full dissolution of OG, Johan "N0tail" Sundstein, Sébastien "Ceb" Debs and Jesse "JerAx" Vainikka were able to pick up the pieces just in time for the regional qualifiers and make a push that would blow the minds of everyone.
From open qualifiers for TI8 to a breathtaking grand final against PSG.LGD, OG delivered some of the best and most entertaining games ever witnessed on the TI stage.
What’s more incredible is that the next year, they did it again, and as strange as it might sound, in 2019 despite being the defending champions, most fans were regarding them as underdogs once again.
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OG TI8 & TI9 roster
OG
Anathan “ana-” Pham
Topias Miikka “Topson” Taavitsainen
Sébastien “Ceb” Debs
Jesse “JerAx” Vainikka
Johan “N0tail” Sundstein
Following their incredible back-to-back triumphs on the TI stage, the five players stepped down from the roster and let the younger generation build a new legacy.
So, where are the two-time TI champions now?
Anathan "ana" Pham
ana at The International 2019
ana started to prepare for a professional career in China, at Invictus Gaming. He was nurtured in the iG house to take the mid lane role when the day would come for Luo "Ferrari_430" Feichi to retire. However, Ferrari_430 was in no rush and after spending a bit more than a year in China, ana got noticed by OG, who would sign him in the TI6 aftermath. His first year in Europe wasn’t brilliant and the TI debut, in 2017 would be made with a top 8 finish.
Immediately after TI7 ana took an extensive break from Dota 2 and he quickly became known for his habit of going inactive for a whole season only to return just ahead of TI. He went on another hiatus after winning TI8 and returned to active play in the spring of 2019.
After becoming a two-time champion with OG, ana went back home to Australia and minded his own business until TI10 qualifiers were approaching. Two months before regional qualifiers for The International 2021, ana along with his former teammate, Topsosn joined T1, but couldn’t clinch a ticket to the biggest event of the year. Following his short stint with T1, he went back to a normal life.
Now, with TI12 looming on the horizon, ana has once again begun to spam the pubs, giving his fans hopes that he might be making another appearance as a stand-in. TI12 is mere weeks away and nobody knows exactly if he indeed will make another surprise return or not.
Topias "Topson" Taavitsainen
Topson at The International 2019
Topson is the only player with a 100% win rate on the TI stage. TI8 marked his debut and that came with the first Aegis lifted. By the end of TI9, when he won the second Aegis, Topson was clearly the best mid laner in the professional scene. But much like ana, Topson took some time off after TI9, started a family and became a father in September 2020. However, he couldn’t stay completely awayfrom the scene, and besides standing in for T1 during the TI10 regional qualifiers, in the next season he tried to build a secondary OG team.
This year, Topson returns to The International under the Tundra Esports banner. He joined the team at the end of the Dota Pro Circuit season after Martin "Saksa" Sazdov announced a break due to health issues.
Sébastien "Ceb" Debs
Ceb at ESL One Stockholm 2022
There is no other player who retired more times than Ceb. He was already retired when OG dealt with their hardships back in 2018. He jumped in from the coaching seat to the offlane and went on making the most spectacular comeback ever witnessed, winning TI twice in a row.
In the TI9 aftermath, he stepped away with the entire line-up, but not for long. In June 2020 he returned to active play, but with COVID putting a halt to all LANs, he had to wait until 2021 before playing again at TI. He placed top 8 at TI10, which many thought would be the last dance for him and N0tail.
However, in the past two years, he went on and off from active play several times. Between eye surgery, doctor-recommended time off and a wedding, Ceb won “from retirement” the ESL One Stockholm Major 2022, placed top 4 at PGL Arlington Major 2022 and again top 4 at the just concluded earlier this month, DreamLeague Season 21.
He became a permanent fixture in the OG roster towards the end of the summer tour this year, but OG will miss TI12 after placing just top 6 in the WEU regional qualifiers.
Jesse "JerAx" Vainikka
JerAx at The International 2019
Along with the entire TI8 and TI9 line-up JerAx took an extensive break from Dota2. He returned to active play at the end of 2021, when he changed regions and roles to join Evil Geniuses as support 5. He competed in the NA region through all three DPC tours in 2022, but after a disappointing run at Stockholm Major, he left the team. He attended The International 2022, however as a coach for Team Liquid, and would reach top 3 in Singapore. In the TI11 aftermath, he decided to focus on streaming and surprised his fans by playing VALORANT with a graphic pen or by taking part in the Youtube World’s Greatest event earlier this month.
Johan "N0tail" Sundstein
N0tail at The International 2021
After a decade of competitive play, five Major titles and two TIs, N0tail is the player with the highest tournament earnings in the whole esports industry with $7,184,163 in his bank account. For many, he is also the G.O.A.T. in Dota 2. He is the father of OG and embraced that role investing and dedicating himself to the organization fully.
A lot of his earnings were invested in developing and expanding OG to other esports titles and in a 17-bedroom mansion in Lisbon. The OG Sunflower house serves as a home for N0tail, who moved to Portugal, but also as a bootcamp for the OG teams.
While he embraced a new life outside the game, exploring gardening and simply enjoying life, N0tail often appears on the panels for some of the major tournaments or joins the partnered streamers, especially when OG is playing.
