Dota 2 team OG has joined the roster shuffle and made a rather big move. The team has moved Ammar "ATF" Al-Assaf to the inactive roster, effectively benching him.
ATF was introduced in November 2021 as part of the new roster after the last of the former roster decided to take a break from competitive Dota 2. He was joined by Artem "Yuragi" Golubiev, Bozhidar "bzm" Bogdanov, Tommy "Taiga" Le, and Mikhail "Misha" Agatov. A lot of OG's fans had high hopes for them and during the regular DPC season, they did not disappoint.
They had a slow start and only managed to reach third place during the Regional Final for Tour 1. However, they finished first during Tour 2 and then went on to win the Stockholm Major. While the team didn't have a high placement in Tour 3, it was enough for them to join the Arlington Major where they finished fourth place. Eventually, OG managed to get enough points for a direct invite to The International. At TI, OG was eliminated by Team Liquid.
While they may not have won this year's TI, the 7th-8th place finish is actually good for the new roster. So, why the move? The clue would be in how OG phrased their announcement. In a post on Twitter, OG revealed that ATF was placed on the inactive roster to let him “explore his options this season." There have been rumors going around the ATF has been getting offers from various teams. This started when fans noticed that he was playing a lot of carry heroes in pubs.
On the side of OG, this is a smart move. They're giving ATF enough to decide which team he wants to move on to. At the same time, they'll have a "reserve" just in case they won't be able to sign someone else. Then again, it is a difficult role even for ATF since you're effectively following after none other than Sébastien "Ceb" Debs.
Where is ATF headed now? There’s no word yet but if he’s staying in Western Europe, he has a lot of choices. There’s Team Liquid but he’ll have to change his playstyle. Team Secret could also be a possibility. We’ll just have to wait.
A better question would be, who do you think is OG signing to replace ATF?
If you want to know more about what’s happening in the team post-TI, you can read about MATUMBAMAN’s retirement here or Alliance releasing its entire roster here.
Dota 2 is available on PC.
