The OG Conundrum: filling the valde shaped hole

In an unsurprising turn of events, OG has finally decided to make changes to their roster. After an RMR performance that saw them lose to Na’Vi, ForZe, and, er… Eternal Fire, Valdemar "⁠valde⁠" Bjørn Vangså and Nikolaj “niko” Kristensen find themselves free from perpetual mediocrity - or valde does anyway.

OG came into CS with a world of promise, an org with a considerable reputation in Dota 2, their roster in Counter-Strike was going to be just as competitive. Or so they’d hoped.

What followed was the frustration of a team whose stars often shined brightly but whose inconsistency prevented them from ever becoming a mainstay in the late stages of tournaments.

After flying through the IEM Katowice 2022 Play-In, the new squad with Nemanja “nexa” Isakovic bombed out of the tournament proper. Their failure to qualify for the Antwerp Major was the final nail in the coffin.

This leaves us with an *ahem* conundrum; where does OG look to now to fill their roster? 

Allow me to tell you.

Let’s be clear: I like nexa; I think nexa is a good player. I’m not sure if nexa is a good IGL. He failed to do more with a G2 roster that had one of the best players to have ever touched the game in Nikola “NiKo” Kovac. And he should have done more with the roster he had here at OG.

Now we’ve all heard a rumor or two that valde is toxic, but let’s face it, he’s a baller. Mateusz “mantuu” Wilczewski isn’t too bad either. Shahar “flamez” Shushan? He’s pretty decent too.

So let’s give this team a slight reshuffle, allow nexa to fill the spot of HUNDEN’s best mate, and bring a new chef into the kitchen…

I present to you:

Mathias “MSL” Lauridsen.

I know, I know, he’s old and grey, and he hasn’t had a team in a while. But I know you read that and said ‘mmmm… yeah’. Think about it. He’s a great mind, a tactician with a track record of getting the best of mediocre rosters and taking it to the big guns.

OG is a roster that needs guidance and someone with a calm, experienced mind to take the helm.  MSL creates stars, and with mantuu and flamez, there are two elements more than capable of taking up that mantle and carrying OG to the next level - but they need MSL to do so.

He’s the man to take OG to the next level. You know it. I know it. Don’t question it.

Valde, even if he might be the most disappointing star of the Danish Dominance era, is a significant loss to the team, and he’ll make his next team (Astralis, please?) much better too. 

How, then, does OG fill that gap? 

MSL would probably try to bring valde back and fail at that. He would try to get Philip “aizy” Aistrup in. The organization’s ambition would likely make them think they could bag the biggest prize of reportedly wantaway Mareks “YEKINDAR” Galinski. 

But there’s something more realistic out there.

If you want to continue with experience, Copenhagen Flames can’t want to stay together forever. Nico “nicoodoz” Tamjidi might have missed his chance with Astralis, but this could be the time for his teammate, Fredrik “roeJ” Jorgensen, to take the leap to a bigger pond.  

The 28-year-old Dane has re-established himself as a bonafide  CT side Rotator star, a monster rifler capable of taking over games at a moment's notice.  He could quickly fill the gap left by valde, also providing the added benefit of having a much more impactful playstyle, a win condition for MSL to play with.

Or, seeing as there’s no real logical place for him on the actual MOUZ lineup, you could go with the future star primed for some MSL tutelage: Dorian “xertioN” Berman.

One of MOUZ’s dominant NXT stars, the young gun looks unlikely to breakthrough anytime soon. The following change will surely be the end of Christopher “Dexter” Nong’s leadership. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t ready for the step up.

XertioN has already made it more than clear he’s as much of a star as his former teammates Adam “torzsi” Torzsas and  Jon “JDC” de Castro. In MSL, he would have an IGL capable of polishing his game and elevating him to levels far past that which someone like dexter could ever dream of.

• 🇩🇰 Mathias “MSL” Laurdisen
• 🇮🇱 Dorian “xertioN” Berman
• 🇮🇱 Shahar “flamez” Shushan
• 🇷🇸 Nemanja “nexa” Isakovic
• 🇵🇱 Mateusz “mantuu” Wilczewski