Dota 2 team OG has brought Anathan “ana” Pham back to the roster, which was good news for many fans. But some fans were apprehensive given that it has been more than a year since ana played. Yet all that doubt might be gone after watching OG’s match with Brame at the Upper Division of Europe.
It’s also worth noting that in this match, ana instead went for the tag “humblegod.” That could be based on the fact that after OG’s back-to-back TI wins, a lot of people were calling him the god of Dota 2. So how did he fare in his first professional game after a long hiatus?
In the first game of the match, ana went for Juggernaut and played as expected. By that, we mean as a typical professional Dota 2 player. He ended the game with seven kills and only one death. However, for this game, it was Topias Miikka “Topson” Taavitsainen who had an excellent performance on his Riki.
It was in the second game that OG finally showed everyone that ana was definitely back. Several fans were sure excited when OG picked Phantom Lancer for ana, one of his signature heroes. The game started the usual way with ana getting the kills he needed.
The game changed tempo at the 25-minute mark. With an 8–0 and Aegis on him, ana chased down Brame deep into their base. That may be okay in most cases but here, it was a surprise given that Brame still had their Tier 2 towers. Not satisfied, ana didn’t back down and even went for a fountain dive. Brame eventually stopped ana and gave him his first death.
After he respawned, OG pushed the top and while they destroyed the Tier 3 towers and the Barracks, it wasn’t enough. OG fountain dived yet again with ana in the lead. Brame managed to push back and gave ana his second death of the game.
On the third fountain dive, ana got five kills before being killed for the third time, his final death in the match. Note that all this time, Topson on Pugna was busy destroying Brame’s buildings. OG later got Roshan with ana claiming the Aegis again. OG pushed and dove the fountain once more. Even with a Divine Rapier on the Alchemist, Brame had no other option but to give it up and call it GG.
Now fountain dives happen in professional games though they’re mostly seen in pub games. In a post-match interview, OG’s Sébastien “Ceb” Debs said that the fountain dives were a way for them to make a statement and that they do it for Dota-reasons. What those reasons are, Ceb didn’t elaborate too much.
Some likely argued that OG was only able to do that because it was against Brame, which could be the case. However, it’s also worth noting that OG did it while playing and having fun at the same time.
What about you? Is ana truly back?
