Dota 2 star N0tail to Pinoy OG fans: 'Keep your head up'

After leading Team OG to Dota 2's first-ever back-to-back TI championship in 2018-2019, Johan "N0tail" Sundstein has become one of the most inspiring figures in the history of esports.

The Danish Dota player just gave Pinoy gamers a special treat this week by having a friendly showmatch with the Philippines' Zedrik "Jeff" Dizon, who emerged as the champion at this year's 2020 Red Bull R1V1R Runes Philippines tournament last May.

The battle was streamed on Monday and has so far been viewed more than 100,000 times as of posting.

During a quick chat with a handful of reporters before the event, the OG team captain said a big thank you to the Pinoy community that has been supporting the team throughout the years.

"Of course, a huge thanks (to fans) for always supporting us, and you guys are also what makes comebacks very real," N0tail said.

"Knowing that we have a lot of haters, but we have an equal amount or a way larger amount of believers. So, really, thank you all for supporting us, OG, all the way. Much love, much love. Thank you," he added.

In fact, N0tail said the Philippine crowd "is one of the best crowds we've had."

"What we felt there was real, genuine, nice hype for all the games. It felt like people were cheering for good Dota, regardless of who's onstage and who's playing," he shared, referring to the 2016 Manila Major.

N0tail was the team captain of OG -- then composed of Topson, ana, Ceb and JerAx -- who became the first DoTA 2 team in history to win a back-to-back championship at The International (TI), the esport's biggest tournament, in 2018 and 2019.

During the interview, N0tail gave a shout out to his fellow Dota 2 players in the Philippines who've been missing the leagues in light of the pandemic, and left them a few words of encouragement.

"Sometimes life is hard. Sometimes Dota is hard, but we've all been in a game where it looked really grim, and then we come back. Keep your head up," N0tail said.

Those who missed Jeff and N0tail’s showmatch can always watch it on KuyaNic’s Facebook page here.

—Margaret Claire Layug/JCB, GMA News