The Dota 2 Decision: N0tail reveals how OG poached Miracle

The year is 2015, and Amer “Miracle-” Al-Barkawi’s latest gameplay montage just dropped on YouTube. While fans eagerly awaited Miracle-‘s competitive debut, behind the scenes, three teams were in a fierce battle to convince the talented mid-laner to join their ranks, a timeline that Johan “N0tail” Sundstein revealed on Janne “Gorgc” Stefanovski’s stream yesterday.

Miracle- had only played ranked, with little to no competitive experience at the time in question. After a brief stint with Balkan Bears, he shifted his focus to gaining MMR and becoming Europe’s top ranked player. During this period, the European Dota 2 scene was also undergoing a significant change, with multiple high-profile names forming their own organizations.

Based on Dot Esports’ knowledge of the Dota 2 history books, OG, named (monkey) Business at the time, was first to contact Miracle- after he reached 8,000 MMR. Considering how Miracle- is a man of few words, many thought that OG was his only offer, but it turns out that many teams knocked at his door at the time.

When Gorgc asked about how OG discovered Miracle-, N0tail shared: “Actually, three or more teams were looking at him.” Notably, Kuro “KuroKy” Salehi Takhasomi and Clement “Puppey” Ivanov were among those interested in securing Miracle-‘s services.

Team Secret was still trying to find a working formula after starting its journey with KuroKy and N0tail in its roster around 2014. When this super team found out that the players couldn’t function together, N0tail and KuroKy left to form their own rosters. As N0tail and KuroKy made offers to Miracle-, they were unaffiliated stacks, with no formal organization behind them, making Team Secret the most solid offer Miracle- received.

However, Miracle- wasn’t alone while making his decision, as N0tail highlighted that the player took advice from his “brother, or his friend, or someone else.” This third party, whom N0tail couldn’t fully recall, told Miracle- “Bro, bro, bro, you should go with those guys.”

During his one year with OG, Miracle- won the Frankfurt and Manila Majors. Despite these significant triumphs, he left OG following disappointing results at The International 2016 to join forces with KuroKy in Team Liquid. Miracle- won The International 2017 shortly after and achieved his dream, while OG became the first team to lift Aegis in two consecutive years in 2018 and 2019.