Old G buy their way out of Dota Pro Circuit relegation, avoid open qualifier grind despite ban

Old G faced a major setback as they were unexpectedly eliminated from the Closed Qualifiers for the Dota 2 Pro Circuit’s summer tour on May 8. Undeterred by the setback, Old G decided to purchase PuckChamp’s slot in the Western European DPC’s second division, bypassing the time-consuming process of playing through the Open Qualifiers.

Old G members haven’t made an official statement regarding the matter, but they all signed up for the new season under PuckChamp’s slot on Dota 2’s roster registration page.

Related: PGL controversially remove Old G from closed qualifier of Dota 2 Pro Circuit summer tour

This move also comes with a roster change since Roman “Resolut1on” Fomynok didn’t register with Old G. Instead of the TI11 runner-up, Old G added Adam “Aramis” Moroz to its roster, who last stood in for Martin “Saksa” Sazdov on Tundra Esports during DreamLeague Season 19.

The slot purchase places Old G back in the second division, but there’s no guarantee that they will remain there. Earlier in the 2023 DPC season, NAVI decided to purchase a division one slot, only to get relegated one more time, so Old G will need to fight harder to avoid sharing the same fate.

Considering The International 2023 qualifiers are on the horizon, Old G may not have wanted to gamble with their odds of surviving another Open Qualifiers run. The team initially failed to qualify for the second division during the winter season. While that didn’t immediately impact their season, not securing a division two slot would mark the end of 2023 for Old G.