The absence of Johan ‘N0tail’ Sundstein from the OG Dota 2 line-up continues into another day of competition at the EPICENTER Major, with coach Titouan "Sockshka" Merloz once again standing in for the reigning TI8 champions as they take on Evil Geniuses in a lower-bracket best-of-one match in Moscow.
It comes at a crucial time in OG’s season, with the team still not having secured a place at The International 9 in Shanghai, having only reformed in full in March of 2019.
Can OG do it without n0tail?: OG vs Evil Geniuses live stream and betting odds
While the illness is bad luck in the timing, it was OG’s decision to take a lot of time off prior to winning The International 8, and the departure and return of Anathan ‘ana’ Pham didn’t help their season either. Failure to make an impact in Majors has left them tenth in the DPC rankings at the time of writing.
Below them in that list are the likes of Alliance, TNC Predator and EHOME, as well as the talented Gambit side and many other teams with the potential to upset the apple cart. It may be hard to believe, but there is a possibility the defending champions don’t even make it to Shanghai, despite the fact they have exactly the same team than bagged more than $20m less than twelve months ago and proved themselves the best of the best.
At present Team Secret are the favourites for most tournaments they enter, and have managed to maintain their level across the season despite doubts about their ability to do so. Team Liquid should be another favourite, but poor performances prompted a change and they have a lot of work to settle w33haa into their team before TI9, for which they have already booked their flights.
OG vs Evil Geniuses betting odds
Winner
OG - 2.40
Evil Geniuses - 1.51
More betting options and live stream on our Dota 2 matches page.
Picture: Copyright: Helena Kristiansson / ESL
