The defending International champions are finally gearing up for the 2019-20 Dota Pro Circuit. OG, after sitting out the first two Majors, will kick off their season at the ESL One Los Angeles Major qualifiers.
Although, even after the organization confirmed that they would be competing in the qualifiers for the ESL One Los Angeles Major, the context still leaves a lot of openings for plot twists to pop up in the coming weeks.
While OG’s official Twitter account confirmed the news, the historic team could look a little different than usual. It’s possible an altered version of the roster will compete immediately, which would obviously change fan expectations for the team.
We have heard next to nothing about the active status Anathan “ana” Pham and Topias “Topson” Taavitsainen, who both decided to take longer breaks following TI9. Topson has been streaming and playing Dota recently, but ana is always the biggest factor for the roster.
Last year, ana didn’t come back to the active roster until March, but the Feb. 9 start date for the Major qualifiers is quickly approaching. That could mean that the team will announce a stand-in for the qualifiers or they might just pull up a player from the OG Seed roster to help them out.
Related: True Sight: The International 2019 Finals documentary gets a premiere date and a new trailer
There have also been rumors of Yeik “MidOne” Nai Zheng joining OG in some capacity in recent weeks, so it isn’t outlandish to think the team might look for outside help again like they did with Per Anders “Pajkatt” Lille and Igor “iLTW” Filatov last season.
The Major qualifiers will run from Feb. 9 to 14, with the ESL One Los Angeles Major set to begin on March 15.
