OG under pressure; The 'Ceb effect'

As usual, OG tends to shine under pressure and we can't help but wonder if that is thanks to the 'Ceb effect'. 

If you are an OG fan then you already know this is not an organization for the faint of heart. If you don't already have on your Dota 2 Bingo Card ‘OG to defy all expectations and light the event on fire’ then you are probably living under a rock. 

• Read OG; An organization not for the faint of heart

Time and time again OG ends up in situations where everything is on the line, all hope seems to be lost and then they power up to levels beyond recognition. And this is regardless of who is on the roster.

OG wasn't even supposed to be at ESL One Birmingham. They fell short of a qualifier spot in the Western Europe bracket but when 1Win was unable to confirm their participation and EEU runner-up team Virtus.pro couldn’t confirm their participation due to the same visa issues the invite was extended to OG. 

So here we are. Another new roster, another time the team isn't fairing too well during the season. Another time they are just killing it when no one expected anything from them. 

OG tied up almost every series they played in the group stage and more impressively, they won the entire series in a 2:0 sweep against Xtreme Gaming – who are hot off a championship win for Elite League. The results? First place in their groups and an upper-bracket placement for the playoffs. 

In a post-game interview with Enzo "Timado" Gianoli revealed that it wasn't just luck, but that they had received back-to-back speeches from Sebastien “Ceb” Debs. 

Five years ago Ceb wrote some insights in his blog about some of the points regarding being and creating champions. He should know. As a back-to-back TI championship player and having established himself as a seasoned veteran with strategic insights and leadership skills, players rally under his motivation. 

Listen to ‘the speech’ yourself and you'll see the ‘Ceb effect’ in high definition. 

Meanwhile, fans can catch OG in action later today, Thursday, April 25th, as they take on Team BetBoom in the upper-bracket semi-finals. 

OGvsBetBoom Team 16:30 CEST

At this point, OG will conclude an event they shouldn't even be at with a 5-6th place if they lose to BetBoom and then lose again in the lower-bracket quarter-finals. 

But most of us have learned…. you can't count OG out and a title grab isn't out of the question. 

ESL One Birmingham 2024 Playoffs

• Playoff Teams
  • Team Liquid (EPT leaderboard) 
  • BetBoom Team (EPT leaderboard) 
  • Xtreme Gaming (EPT leaderboard) 
  • Team Falcons (MENA qualifiers) 
  • Tundra Esports (WEU qualifiers)
  • OG (replacement for 1Win)
  • G2.iG (China qualifiers)
  • Heroic (SA qualifiers)

• Playoffs - April 25 - April 28, 2024
  • Double-elimination bracket
  • All matches except the Grand Final are Bo3
  • Grand Final is Bo5

ESL One Birmingham 2024 Playoffs Brackets

ESL One Birmingham 2024 Prize Pool 

$1,000,000 Prize Pool and 26,640 EPT Points are spread among the participants as seen below:

• 1st place  $300,000/ 6,400 EPT Points
• 2nd place $175,000/ 4,800 EPT Points
• 3rd place $120,000/ 4,000 EPT Points
• 4th place $85,000/ 3,200 EPT Points
• 5th-6th place $57,500/ 2,240 EPT Points
• 7th-8th place $47,500/ 1,040 EPT Points
• 9th-10th place $30,000/ 560 EPT Points Team Spirit /Talon Esports 
• 11th-12th place $25,000/ 280 EPT Points Gaimin Gladiators/Shopify Rebellion 

ESL One Birmingham 

The last time ESL One was in the English city was in 2019 when Team Secret took the championship title, trophy, and lion's share of the $300,000 prize pool after besting Evil Geniuses 3:2 in the grand finals. Another ESL One LAN event was scheduled for March 2020, but was canceled due to the CoronaVirus Pandemic. That event was rescheduled to online only.