European esports organization OG defeated their rival squad, Team Nigma, in a thrilling upper bracket semifinals match during OGA Dota 2 PIT Season 4.

Interestingly enough, aside from their contest being a rematch between the two finalists from The International 2019, it is also a runback of the same upper bracket semifinals match from five months ago during OGA Dota 2 PIT Season 2, where Team Nigma sent OG to the lower bracket.

This time around, OG would come out on top, with the help of their stand-in carry player, Igor “iLTW” Filatov. According to OG’s official post, their carry player Yeik “MidOne” Nai Zheng “is currently Storm Hammering back home for a well deserved holiday break.”

When the series was tied 1-1, OG shocked their opponents by choosing Oracle for Topias “Topson” Taavitsainen in the mid lane. Oracle always played as a hard support hero in both professional and pub games.

To make things even more exciting, OG also chose an unorthodox offlane pick in Sven for Sébastien “Ceb” Debs. Sven has always been picked as the position 1 hard carry as the team’s primary damage dealer with his God Strength ultimate.

At the start of Game 3, Team Nigma’s conventional hero lineup was getting the better of OG, as both Maroun “GH” Merhej and Ivan “MinD_ContRoL” Ivanov continued to make initiation plays that caught out OG’s isolated heroes.

OG eventually fought back after punishing Amer “Miracle-” Al-Barkawi’s and MinD_ContRoL’s overextension in the Radiant jungle. This gave OG an opening to claim the Aegis of the Immortal, while Nigma was not at full force.

However, in an attempt to steal the Aegis of the Immortal from OG, Nigma made matters worse for themselves as they lost more heroes in the ensuing Rosh Pit clash. OG continued to apply pressure, which caused Nigma to drop like flies as they continued to fight without their full squad.

With both teams posturing against each other for the next 17 minutes, iLTW and Miracle- decided it was time to put everything on the line. Both players picked up a Divine Rapier in hopes of ending the game in the next major clash.

To the delight of OG fans, the team’s stand-in carry player would not disappoint, as he outdueled Miracle-’s Phantom Assassin to win the final clash of the game.

With their 2-1 series win, OG advanced to the upper bracket final where they will face Natus Vincere for a spot at the grand final. Meanwhile, Team Nigma drop to the lower bracket quarterfinal, where they will go up against ex-Alliance members Adrian “Fata” Trinks and Neta “33” Shapira’s new Dota 2 team, mudgolems. 

OGA Dota 2 PIT Season 4 continues today at 6 p.m. GMT+8 with the elimination match between Team Nigma and mudgolems, followed by another lower bracket match between Alliance and EPIC League champions Virtus.pro. Catch the action live on the OGADotaPIT Twitch channel.

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