Are OG cooking something special?

OG's newest roster is not quite what anyone expected.

That's, of course, if one is to believe the rumours out there. F1KU, nexa, regali, k1to and FASHR will make up the five players, which has left much of social media perplexed.

Though it's perhaps a little surprising, it's not entirely without merit. All of these players individually have ability but haven't quite found a home - or at least the right one.

It's not perfect; there are legitimate concerns and criticisms one can make, but there's something to hang on to if you're an OG fan too.

The Good

nexa has a team of reliable soldiers to hand.

k1to is a criminally underrated player, with fantastic first bullet accuracy and a willingness to play for, make space for and die for his teammates. He's a great teammate to have, and a remarkably talented player even if he was often shackled on BIG.

F1KU hasn't been a superstar pick-up, but he's also been given some difficult roles to carry from. Passive lurking roles, like playing in Connector on T side of Overpass, or towards A on Ancient, where you're basically just a role player.

Jak Howard

He might get some more star roles now, given the abundance of soldiers on this team - and he's done his time as a role player.

FASHR similarly had some pretty difficult roles on T side, but he was a solid enough piece in an albeit inconsistent machine. He's another player who has had star roles in the past and could potentially become a much more exciting player if he had better roles.

Now with regali and nexa, this team does have an underrated amount of firepower. Yes, all four of the riflers HAVE been role players recently, but that's not to say they can't change.

regali is an extremely talented AWPer, and we've already seen he is able to not just replace degster but become something greater. If OG are to be a great team, regali will undoubtedly be a big part of it, and he has people willing to make space for him to carry.

F1KU and FASHR were stars in a lower tier, but have never been given a chance to display what they can do in carry positions at tier one. k1to will probably remain a role player, but he's able to move into fragging roles if needed.

It's not perfectly polished - there's a lot of rough diamonds - but there's a lot of talent that hasn't always been utilised properly.

The Bad

There is just... a lot of role players.

While we've caveated that both F1KU and FASHR have been star players elsewhere, it's not always easy to flip that switch and go back to being a star, and both were stars a tier below what OG are aiming to be.

Versatility and selflessness are fantastic qualities, but most great teams have a selfish, headstrong superstar who is willing to take resources and carry. Who on OG has the bravado, the moxie and perhaps even the hubris to take over?

It might be regali, but he like the other two potential stars hasn't really been 'the guy' on a big team - he's always been a big fish in a small pond. It might be F1KU, but that's a huge gamble on a player who has been shackled for a while.

Michal Konkol

There's so many questions about roles and positions that nexa has to figure out, and quickly. He's a good leader, but he has been out of the firing line for a while. OG don't have all the time in the world to give him to get back upto speed; individually and in a more macro sense.

A lot of the potential concerns about this roster are just that; potential concerns. They're all fixable, but there's enough of them where one is likely to struggle. Maybe FASHR isn't top tier yet. Perhaps F1KU isn't a star rifler. nexa might not be back to his level yet.

There's so many question marks.

The Conclusion

The conclusion, perhaps contradictorily, is that we really have no way of knowing quite how this will go. The roster make-up is strange and it feels like there's a lot of role clashes - but we have no idea how nexa sees these players fitting in.

Until we know how all of these players will be used, we've got no idea how it will go. Even then, there's question marks over how well the players will adapt.

It's probably just as likely that regali and F1KU can evolve into a top tier duo as it is that this team completely falls apart. F1KU is genuinely very good at his roles, and he deserves a shot at being a real carry.

It's a gamble, but one OG are willing to take; and for that, they should be applauded.