Dota 2: Old G start strong in DPC WEU Division II with stomp over ITB
With the Berlin Major still weeks away, Old G's run in WEU Division II will make for some must-watch Dota.
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Old G showed out in debut in the 2023 Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) Division II Spring Tour regional league for Western Europe on Thursday (6 April) by soundly sweeping Into The Breach (ITB).
Old G — led by two-time The International (TI) champions Topias "Topson" Taavitsainen and Sébastien "Ceb" Debs alongside Volodymyr "Noone" Minenko, Roman "Resolut1on" Fomynok, and Kartik "Kitrak" Rathi — qualified for Division II in March after failing to make the DPC during the Winter Tour.
Old G's debut match in the DPC pit them against one of the stronger teams in their division in ITB, who started the season in Division I before getting relegated to Division II for the Spring Tour.
However, Old G were quick to prove themselves the superior squad as they swept the series in less than an hour of game time.
Game one was an absolute stomp, as Old G dominated the laning stage behind aggressive plays from Topson's mid Oracle and Ceb's position 4 Clockwerk. The team even racked up 10 kills before conceding their first death at the 13-minute mark.
Building on their strong start, Noone's carry Abaddon and Resolut1on's Nature's Prophet fueled a relentless midgame push by Old G that forced ITB to tap out after just 25 minutes of action.
Noone, Topson, and Ceb paced Old G's 27-3 kill lead with a combined 18 kills and 39 assists without conceding a single death between the three of them.
Game two was a much closer affair, though it still ended up being a dominant 32-minute win for Old G. They opted for a fast-tempo lineup headlined by a carry Nature's Prophet for Noone, a classic Zeus pick for Topson, and an offlane Lycan for Resolut1on.
After another strong start in the laning stage, Old G were able to snowball into victory by the midgame despite ITB's best efforts to mount a comeback.
Despite their strong start, Old G will still be facing some stiff competition their division, chief among them being TI11 finalists Team Secret.
Secret were knocked down to Division II after an abysmal showing during the Winter Tour, which prompted them to part ways with Resolut1on and Bakyt "Zayac" Emilzhanov and sign Armel "Armel" Tabios and Daniyal "yamich" Lazebnyy as their replacements.
The highly-anticipated Division II showdown between Old G and Secret is scheduled on 19 April.
Old G's next match will be against D2 Hustlers on 8 April, 3 AM SGT. Should they finish this Tour with a Top 2 placement in their division, they will be promoted to Division I for the Summer Tour, where they will get the chance to face OG's main squad.
Old G's presence in Division II for Western Europe also further cements the region's claim as the strongest team in the DPC.
Not only do teams with big-name players like Old G and Secret turn heads towards Division II, heavyweights like TI11 champions Tundra Esports, Lima Major champions Gaimin Gladiators, Team Liquid, and OG are dominating over in Divison I.
With OG running with its young squad in the DPC, members of the organisation's two-time TI-winning team banded together to form Old G at the start of the 2023 DPC season in a more casual return to competitive play.
The first iteration of Old G featured Topson, Ceb, and Johan "N0tail" Sundstein alongside No[o]ne and Arif "MSS" Anwar. However, that first squad failed to come out of the closed qualifier and missed out on the start of this DPC season.
MSS left Old G to join Wildcard Gaming while N0tail gave up his spot to make way for Resolut1on and Kitrak, with Ceb also moving to the position 4 support role.
In an episode of the OG Monkey Business Show podcast released last December, Ceb and N0tail said they formed Old G as a semi-serious attempt to return to competing in the DPC and "have fun".
"For this year, I don't think any of us are trying to commit to winning, because that means you have to sacrifice everything. So we're instead just committing to the hobby and committing to the memes, like having fun, being part of the jokes," said N0tail.
"It feels good, it's fun, it's relaxed. It feels like we don't have to say or prove anything, we can chill, and be ourselves. We can just show up, play and have fun, so I think that's just the nice part," added Ceb.
Old G roster:
Volodymyr "Noone" Minenko
Topias "Topson" Taavitsainen
Roman "Resolut1on" Fomynok
Sébastien "Ceb" Debs
Kartik "Kitrak" Rathi
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