The two time Ti champion has decided to step away from the professional scene of Dota 2 after a memorable journey with OG.
Johan “N0tail” Sundstein will be taking a break as a player citing fatigue and would be taking up the role of as a mentor to help the forthcoming iteration of the OG Dota 2 roster. The decision comes after spending nearly more than half a decade laying the roots of OG and anchoring the team to a plethora of championships, most notably at The Manila Major 2016, The Boston Major 2016 followed by a repeat triumph at The International 8 & 9.
N0tail in a press release stated,
I’m personally taking at least a year off, taking a health break so to speak… For now, all I know is that I need a break. I’m very content, very happy. I’m lucky to have played with the guys I’ve played with for the past two years. I feel fulfilled. But I need a break.
The team’s early exit from the playoffs of the recently concluded The International 10 forced the former back to the drawing board leaving the players to re-evaluate their options moving ahead which saw Martin “Saksa” Sazdov and Syed Sumail “SumaiL” Hassan leave the roster while Sebasitan “Ceb” Debs chose to retire just before this weekend. It all came down to N0tail and Topias Miikka “Topson” Taavitsainen with the latter mid-laner to sit out for the upcoming season, wanting to spend some time with his family and friends.
This will be the first time in the history of OG since 2015 where N0tail won’t be seen playing on the server after featuring in 35 Lans, 9 majors and 5 TIs under the banner of the same.
Following the departure of all the five players from the active squad, OG Dota 2 now looks to start from a clean state with their current head coach Mikhail “Misha” Agatov rumored to transition as a player within OG while Tommy “Taiga” Le who recently parted ways with Team Liquid is expected to join the new iteration of Dota 2.
I think it is essential that veteran players work with new players and help them develop. After all, during all these many years we have learned so many things. About Dota, about becoming a good teammate, how it is to be a professional player. That knowledge needs to be shared. We don’t want the next version of OG to be a carbon copy of the current one. But we believe that if we can transfer what we know, and let them add to this, then the ceiling will be much higher, and we can help them get there quicker. Hopefully save them from some of our mistakes 🙂
N0tail continued
