The unexpected formation of Old G—a stack consisting of OG legends Sébastien “Ceb” Debs, Johan “N0tail” Sundstein, and Topias “Topson” Taavitsainen, along with Arif “MSS” Anwar and Volodymyr “Noone” Minenko—has been all the rage in the Dota 2 community this week.
But as they prepare themselves for the DPC WEU 2023 Tour 1: Closed Qualifier after having a successful run in the first wave of open qualifiers, Ceb warned fans to be realistic about their chances.
“Hopefully, we can deliver some nice Dota, and it’s going to be enjoyable. But truth be told, right now, this isn’t the aim of it, so we really don’t want people to be misled into thinking this is the team we’re going to see a lot and get to tournaments and LANs. That’s really not the point right now,” he said on Dec. 11.
“We’ll be always trying our best. As I said, it’s in our DNA, but we might also not be visible whatsoever. Let’s say we lose qualifiers, and there’s not going to be anything, any game for maybe months, and that’s fine.
“Or maybe, we will play games kind of in the shadows, and it’s not gonna be seen anywhere. To set the record straight: you should all have zero expectations.”
That being said, the back-to-back TI winner admitted the open qualifiers were a bit of a pain. Not because they were difficult. Old G breezed through, although they encountered some forfeits along the way. Instead, it was because the organizers changed times on a whim, and the schedule was intense.
“I didn’t miss that open qualifier life, swear to god,” he said in-game a day later on Gorgc’s stream. It’s something he hadn’t experienced in a while, so it’s expected.
Despite Ceb’s warning, though, Old G will probably be the favorites to win the Closed Qualifier. They’re a talented and experienced stack on paper, regardless of how rusty they might be.
What’s more, Ceb performed exceptionally well as a stand-in for OG at the Stockholm Major in May. His heroics on Windranger played a major role in helping the org win their fifth major.
So, fans can’t help being excited—especially now he’s teaming up with two other OG legends.
The Dota 2 Closed Qualifiers kick off on Monday, Dec. 19, and run until Thursday, Dec. 22. Coming first or second will put them in DPC WEU 2023 Tour 1: Division II, where they’ll have a chance to strive for Division I.
