Despite their recent struggles, OG have been pegged as one of the biggest favourites to win the TI 2026 Southeast Asian qualifier.
Filipino Dota 2 stalwarts 
OG opened their campaign for a spot in The International (TI) 2026 with a 2-0 sweep over 
Interactive Philippines in the upper bracket quarterfinals of the TI 2026 Southeast Asian qualifier on Saturday (20 June).
After years of struggling in the cutthroat competition in Europe, renown organisation OG opened the 2025-2026 competitive season by signing an all-Filipino roster that included 
John Anthony “Natsumi-” Vargas, Erin Jasper “Yopaj” Ferrer, Nikko “Force” Bilocura, Timothy “TIMS” Randrup, Rolen Andre Gabriel “Skem” Ong, and coach 
Adam “343” Shah.
OG had a promising start to the season, securing three straight Top 6 finishes at PGL Wallachia Season 6, BLAST Slam V, and DreamLeague Season 27 as well as a Top 4 placement at BLAST Slam VI. However, the team began struggling to stay competitive as the season ground on. That prompted a roster change that saw Nikko benched for TI 2021 champion 
Alexander “TORONTOTOKYO” Khertek in April.
OG still struggled to produce results even with TORONTOTOKYO in the lineup, however, which prompted his departure after just two months on the roster. OG then returned to an all-Filipino lineup with the signing of Marc Polo Luis “Raven” Fausto ahead of the TI 2026 qualifiers.
Despite their recent struggles, OG were pegged as one of the biggest favourites to win TI 2026's Southeast Asian qualifier and become the region's sole representative in this year's Dota 2 world championship tournament. With that said, the road to TI for OG will be far from smooth, as they face stiff competition from the likes of 
REKONIX, GLYPH, and
Execration.
OG open TI 2026 SEA qualifier campaign with sweep over InterActive Philippines
OG's first match of the TI 2026 Southeast Asian qualifier saw them take on fellow Filipino squad InterActive Philippines, who were coming off a 2-1 reverse sweep over 
Yangon Galacticos in the opening round of the qualifier. While OG were the heavy favourites in this matchup, InterActive Philippines made them work for the sweep as game one of the series took 81 minutes.
The series opener started with both teams on relatively even footing until InterActive Philippines took over map control heading into the late game and built up a massive net worth lead that reached over 31,000 at the 58-minute mark. However, OG were able to put up a strong defense of their base thanks in large part to Yopaj's Puck and Natsumi's Windranger outmaneuvering their opponents in teamfights.
Despite their gold deficit, OG's experience showed out in the crucial late game clashes, allowing them to slowly chip away at InterActive Philippines and eventually force them to call ‘GG’ after 81 minutes of action. Yopaj led the way for OG in game one with 16 kills and 17 assists on two deaths while Natsumi added 12 kills and 21 assists on six deaths.
InterActive Philippines seemingly ran out of steam after their drawn-out loss in game one, as OG simply bulldozed through them in the 35-minute game two to secure the 2-0 series sweep. Natsumi on Vengeful Spirit fueled his team's 50-20 kill lead in the closeout game with 20 kills and 12 assists against four deaths. Yopaj had another standout performance on Puck, notching 14 kills and 19 assists on two deaths, while Tims on Hoodwink pitched in with 10 kills and 29 assists on two deaths.
With their victory over InterActive Philippines, OG advanced to the upper bracket semifinals to face their first real challenger of the qualifier: GLYPH. The other side of the bracket notably features two of the other heavyweights in the qualifier in Execration and REKONIX. Those two semifinal matches will be pivotal in the battle for that one all-important spot in TI 2026.
What are The International 2026 qualifier regions, dates, and slots?
The International 2026 regional qualifiers cover North America, South America, China, Southeast Asia, and a newly unified European region, replacing the traditional split between Western and Eastern Europe.
Here are the dates and slots per region of TI 2026 Closed Qualifiers:
China
- Dates: 15 -18 June
- Slot(s): 2
South America
- Dates: 15 - 19 June
- Slot(s): 1
SEA
- Dates: 19 - 23 June
- Slot(s): 1
Europe
- Dates: 21 - 28 June
- Slot(s): 4
North America
- Dates: 24 - 26 June
- Slot(s): 1
The qualifier winners will join the directly invited teams–
Aurora Gaming, 
BetBoom Team, 
Team Falcons,
Team Liquid, 
1w Team, 
Xtreme Gaming, and Team Yandex–to complete the 16-team field.
The list of qualified teams to TI 2026 so far include Chinese qualifier winners Team Resilience and
Vici Gaming as well as South American qualifier winner 
LGD Gaming.
The International 2026 will take place in Shanghai, China, from 13 to 23 August, with a current prize pool of US$1.6 million. The tournament's final four days will be held live at the Oriental Sports Center, where the world's best team will be crowned champions in this 15th edition of The International.
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