OG Returns to Valorant With New Roster

Published: Jan 7, 2022

It’s been a while since we’ve heard from OG in Valorant. We had the pleasure of watching them attempt their third consecutive TI title in Dota 2 a few months ago, but we didn’t get to experience much in their Valorant Champions Tour run.

But all of that is now in the past and they’re back once again with a brand new roster. You’ll recognize two previous members, uNKOE who was the original member of the Monkey Business roster that was signed by OG in early 2021, and also OniBy who spent some time with OG before leaving for Bonsoir.

Aside from these two, we also have fxy0, LaAw, and MateliaN. All five members come from France, which should give the team an edge when it comes to communication during tournaments. It’s great to see the OG boys back in action for season 2 and we can’t wait to see how far they’ll come this year.

Image Credits | OG

The Previous VCT Season

So much has happened in Valorant in this past year that some of us might have forgotten the beginning of the season and some of the more dominant teams that slowly fell off. OG was one of those teams, or more accurately, the Monkey Business squad that went on an early rampage in the EU region.

They entered the spotlight very early on and got signed by OG shortly after their entry. However, under OG’s banner, the team didn’t really achieve as much as it was expected.

Stage 1 was rather unremarkable for OG, where they finished 5th-8th in both Challengers 2 and Challengers 3. Stage 2 went by and we didn’t see OG at all. The last time they appeared was during the VCT Stage 3 qualifiers where they attempted to qualify on two occasions, but unsuccessfully.

And after all of that, OG went silent for a good while. It’s a pleasant surprise to see them return with a new roster. Hopefully 2022 will be more favourable to them and they’ll finally manage to make that big break into Valorant. They’ve conquered Dota 2, and perhaps Valorant is next.

What Makes OG Special?

If we look at their past Valorant results, we won’t see anything extraordinary. They tried and it didn’t work. Many teams suffered the same fate.

However, what makes OG really special is that they’re more like a family rather than your usual esports organisation. You’ll see how they won’t let their members go that easily, and in some cases, they’ll take them back even if they were gone for a long period of time. We can see this with OniBy.

This close-knit bond they enjoy is something that won them two TI’s in Dota 2, so we can expect N0tail to employ the same approach in Valorant.

Additionally, the Valorant landscape has changed quite a bit since the early beginnings, meaning that there will be more opportunities for all kinds of teams to slowly climb to the top.

OG is a big name in esports, so fans automatically expect great things from them. But the reality is that OG missed a lot this past year, and there’s so many strong teams right now in Valorant esports. They’ll have to struggle a bit and it won’t be so easy. But if they stay the course and keep pushing on, they might just end up among some of the top Valorant teams in EMEA.

In any case, it’s good to see them back. Hopefully we’ll see great things from this new squad.