SumaiL Out Of OG – Where Will He Go Next?

The King SumaiL leaves OG without securing a third title for the franchise, as well as a second possible one for himself. The question remains: where will he go next?

A few months have passed since Sumail “SumaiL” Hassan joined the OG Dota 2 roster, with many fans feeling that he will bring with him a new era as the then-defending champions come out of disappointing DPC seasons. Fast forward to just last month, and OG fell 2-0 to Team Spirit in the lower bracket of TI10, with many considering this to be one of the biggest upsets of Dota 2’s biggest tournament.

With those results set in stone came the announcement: SumaiL, alongside position 4 Martin “Saksa” Sazdov, have left the roster to “pursue opportunities outside of OG for the upcoming season.” While this announcement can be interpreted in either a sacking or voluntary exit, one thing’s for sure: SumaiL, one of the most well-known cores in the sport, may be wearing a new jersey soon, and here are the possible options for this TI winner.

Evil Geniuses

SumaiL’s team when he won his first only TI, the North American powerhouse also experienced major disappointment in TI10 as they achieved a ninth to twelfth finish due to their surprise early appearance in the lower bracket. While the organization has not relayed information on possible roster moves, it would not be the most surprising news to hear if SumaiL comes back to his old mid-laner role for EG.

However, there is a certain conundrum that comes with this, and it comes in the form of Filipino superstar Abed “Abed” Yusop, the current mid-laner for EG. There have been rumors of him leaving the roster to make a comeback in the Southeast Asian region where he first made his mark, but until then, it’s safe to say that SumaiL making his return to EG very slim.

Team Secret

Despite their best efforts, Team Secret’s best was not enough at TI10, although their third place finish was the highest they’ve had across all iterations. Off the backs of those results, however, were surprise roster changes: Ludwig “zai” Wåhlberg and (hot off the presses) Lasse “MATUMBAMAN” Urpalainen.

MATU’s departure could be the catalyst for SumaiL’s possible roster shift, as the former has been the position 1 player for the team for the past few years. This one is likelier than EG overall, but it is still a bit out there.

Team Liquid

Perhaps the likeliest organization in Europe to benefit from SumaiL’s departure from OG, Team Liquid is also the one where the King found some semblance of success after his stint with EG. While the organization has not yet announced any major roster moves for the existing players, it did announce that zai was joining the team, which points to a possible shift within the team.

All of that said, Team Liquid is a highly likely choice for SumaiL given that he’s already played with most of the team before, and him substituting for a while led to Team Liquid placing higher in a DPC season.

Retirement?

Given all the possible lucrative teams and rosters SumaiL may end up joining, there’s also the distinct possibility that he will end up retiring from competitive Dota 2 completely. This is not exactly the most likely scenario, but given that SumaiL has recently seen success in streaming for a short while before OG’s bootcamp for TI10, he may end up going the Gorgc route instead and opting to entertain the game’s fans on Twitch.