After a Cinderella-story run, Team OG have taken the grand finals series 3-1 over Team Secret. OG has done what many believed was impossible – they played all the way up from the regional qualifiers, through a lower bracket best of one match against Fnatic and five more best of three matchups to reach the grand finals. They defeated powerhouse teams such as Virtus Pro and CDEC, the TI5 runners up, as well as Evil Geniuses 2:1 in a matchup that many people wrote off as an easy win for EG.
Both Johan “N0tail” Sundstein and Tal “Fly” Aizik have a reputation for being great players but members of top tier teams that end up falling short in the end. N0tail and Fly won minor tournaments with Fnatic.EU but never found success in any of the largest events. Both went on to play for Team Secret for a time and placed 2nd or 3rd, never finding that grand final win. After leaving Secret, Fly played with Complexity Gaming who performed better than expected in the International 5 group stage but only achieved 9th-12th place. N0tail went on to join Cloud9, where the second place curse continued. After c9’s post-TI5 disband, Team Monkey business formed up and eventually was picked up by Opulent Gaming. N0tail is a popular pro among fans for his friendly demeanor and generally sunny attitude.
In addition to being the first team to win a major LAN by playing all the way through the lower bracket, OG will always have the distinction of being the first Major champions in the new tournament system and the first names engraved on the Eaglesong trophy.
The Frankfurt Major had many great series, but the winner’s bracket finals between Team Secret and Evil Geniuses as well as the grand finals are of must-watch status. OG’s win over Secret is even more noteworthy in that Secret had been playing in top form, with Jacky “EternalEnvy” Mao executing a flawless game on Ember Spirit against EG to secure their spot in the grand finals. After the momentum of their victory over Evil Geniuses, it seemed like Secret was unstoppable. Team OG brought out lots of aggression, especially in game one, which appeared to catch Secret off guard. Cr1t- in particular made a number of clutch plays with Winter Wyvern’s Cold Embrace and Tusk’s Ice Shards during teamfights. The games were close, but ultimately Secret made a handful of mistakes each time that OG capitalized on, losing only one game to Secret.
The next Major will be held in Shanghai, China, in March.
GGWP to MoonMeander, Fly, Cr1t-, Miracle-, and N0tail! – amazing series, amazing plays.