MidOne kicked from OG, but is ana returning to Dota 2?

Yeik "MidOne" Nai Zheng is out of OG’s Dota 2 roster.

The two-time The International champions missed out on the ONE Esports Singapore Major after an unremarkable run in DreamLeague Season 14. The team is hoping a new carry player will improve its chances, which prompted the release of MidOne.

“Competitive synergy is something very unique and complex. Yeik is one of the best players we have played with, and we worked very hard for months and made a lot of improvements... But unfortunately it never ‘clicked.’ It happens sometimes,” OG offlaner Sebastian “Ceb” Debs said in a statement on OG’s website.

It is unclear if MidOne is now a free agent capable of joining another team or if he is stuck on OG’s bench for the time being. Either way, this marks a disappointing end to MidOne’s run with the team and sticks a fork into OG’s super-team experiment.

MidOne joined OG alongside Syed “SumaiL” Hassan, and Martin "Saksa" Sazdov in 2020, filling gaps in the team left by the retirements of three players from the squad’s The International 2019-winning roster. The team debuted in impressive fashion by securing a spot in the ESL One Los Angeles Major, but that event never actually happened. Travel restrictions and a global lockdown saw the team divided up and forced to compete from overseas, with Ceb coming out of retirement to sub in for MidOne.

As time went on, SumaiL was removed from the team, Ceb came out of retirement permanently, and MidOne transitioned to the carry position. This was his second position change in a year, going from the mid lane to joining OG as an offlaner to replacing SumaiL as a carry.

The team has performed reasonably well with MidOne as carry, most notably taking second place in both OMEGA League and EPIC League Season 2. Unfortunately, the squad could only muster a 3-4 record in DreamLeague Season 14 and came up short in the tiebreaker. This led to OG missing the ONE Esports Singapore Major.

Is ana coming back to OG?

OG gave no hints regarding who its new carry player would be, but suggested that a replacement is already on tap. 

The most obvious candidate is Anathan “ana” Pham, who won two The International championships with OG. He already has proven synergy with the team and was a strong fit on a personal level. The trouble is that he has largely left Dota 2 completely, only playing in four pub matches in the last five months. Most of his efforts have been seemingly focused on Valorant, as he has actually reached the top bracket in the tactical shooter.

OG would have its pick of the litter when it comes to free agents, or even players attached to smaller teams. Even players like Tasos "Focus" Michailidis and Marcus "Ace" Hoelgaard, who are set to compete in DreamLeague Season 15’s upper division with other teams, would likely be willing to leave for the opportunity to join one of Dota 2’s top brands.