343 on OG’s form in Birmingham: “There was always a chance; we just couldn’t clutch it out”

Adam “343” Shah is one of the architects behind the current era of OG Dota 2 — where the once exclusively European organization has seen a pivot to tapping talent from Southeast Asia.

Our editor-in-chief Sophie McCarthy got to chat with him at ESL One Birmingham 2026, asking him about how his team got to where they are now, how disappointed they were that they were unable to make the playoffs at Birmingham, and what goes into a coach’s preparation when there’s a sudden patch in the middle of a major tournament.

How are you doing today?

343: I’m doing okay.

Sophie: Good, glad to hear it! And how has your experience been in Birmingham so far?

343: To be honest, with the amount of LANs with actual audiences and fast this year, Birmingham has been great. It feels so good to actually meet people. I think for a lot of us, maybe not, but maybe it’s different for me as a coach. I’ve been in Dota for very long, and I feel like the fans are always the most refreshing thing we see.

Sophie: Oh, fantastic! Have you been to Birmingham before, then?

343: I have not. It’s my first time, actually.

Sophie: Okay, well that’s what we like to hear. So the first thing I wanted to ask you is about… it’s been a rapid rise for OG since signing with them.

How did you go about starting the process of building that success?

343: Originally, we were playing in Team Aureus, and this was before us having an organization. We were playing BLAST [Slam 4], and I think we got top eight at that event. During that time, we had like two or three orgs reach out to us, and Ceb happened to contact me as well. We just kind of talked, we sorted things out, and we moved like, really quickly from there.

Sophie: So did you bring the same sort of energy that you had with the team before [signing with] OG, or did you switch things up at all?

343: I mean, the [original] team didn’t exist for too long, but in that one month before OG, I think we were always like a kind of “family oriented” team. Or like, they’re good friends, you know, and they like to talk s*** to each other, disturb each other, poke and have fun — and kind of enjoy the process. They also have a very strong work ethic, you know, they’re still professional and they still want to problem-solve. So yeah, I think that camaraderie between them is something that’s really nice and helpful, and it kind of fit well into the OG name.

Sophie: I was gonna say, that’s what OG is known for, isn’t it? Like, winning on the power of friendship. So, that’s great to hear! Could you talk me through your experience here in Birmingham?

How was the tournament for you guys?

343: I think for us coming in, we weren’t in the best form. Each individual, all of us, we were not playing at our best, and I think it was kind of a new experience for us. We were doing pretty okay, I want to say, at least individually — but coming into this tournament, each of us was playing at maybe 70 or 80 percent. Everyone kind of affected each other, like when no one’s at their best, things kind of look worse than they are.

HUGEEEE shout-out to everyone that dropped by 🌻 pic.twitter.com/rOEYRVzfKh

— Adam (@343dota) March 29, 2026

But yeah, it kind of ate at us. Looking back, we did have a good chance to qualify [for the playoffs] anyway, because the groups were pretty close. I don’t think there were many teams where we were like, “Oh, we can’t win”. There was always a chance; we just couldn’t clutch it out in the end. It’s kind of sad for us that we’re not able to play, because there are so many fans here for us. We’re just very apologetic, if anything, for not being able to show up.

Sophie: Yeah, I mean, I’m sure the fans will be very forgiving of that. That’s really sweet of you to say, as well.

What was it like for you on the day that the patch dropped? Was that like, panic stations, or were you prepared for something big?

343: To be honest, every ESL has kind of had a patch during or in between the group stage, so it wasn’t too surprising. I tried to go around to see what people were playing with in pubs, to see what was OP, but it’s hard to guess what other people think are strong. So, prep was a bit more difficult, but I don’t think anything was outside of our expectations. Even now, with the finals going on, everything’s pretty expected for now. There’s some random stuff like Io-Tiny, and things like that. You can’t really plan for these things; you just kind of have to keep knowledge in your head, and try to adapt and have ideas as you go.

Sophie: Yeah. I’ve heard some people say that Tiny really sucks now, and then we see him get picked and he didn’t do so well, so maybe they were right. So, I think you’ve got a little bit of time before… are you doing DreamLeague qualifiers next?

What adjustments do you think need to be made to get everybody back up to this 100%?

343: I think coming into this tournament, the team was already a little bit burnt out. This circuit felt different for us. I think mainly, at least, my reason for it was that last year we started with PGL Wallachia Season 6 and BLAST Slam 4, which were LANs — so we weren’t stuck inside our house.

This year, this circuit, we started with DreamLeague Season 27 and BLAST Slam 6, which were kind of just “at home” for us. So, we were overseas for two months, but one of those months, we were in our house, and we didn’t make it through the group stages at DreamLeague. It was a very extended “vacation” — or like, “stay”, not vacation — but we were just in the same place for a very long time.

Sophie: Looking at the same four walls?

343: Yeah. When one week passed there, I was like, “Holy, it’s only been one week.” It’s so unreal. No excuses, obviously — we should have done better this tournament, but I think everyone needs a short break, at least. It kind of sucks knowing that we have to play [DreamLeague] qualifiers, but it’s only one qualifier. We don’t have to play the other two (PGL Wallachia Season 8 and RES Unchained 4).

feels so unreal to be home

— Adam (@343dota) March 31, 2026

Sophie: Oh, yeah, because you were invited, right?

343: We’re kind of blessed for that, but it also sucks to have to work for this one tournament. But DreamLeague is DreamLeague, you know, and we’re kind of hanging in the middle of the [ESL Pro Tour] points right now. I think we’re 10th, so it’s important for us. The team’s going to take a very short break, and then we’re going back to grinding, and mostly focusing on finding ourselves again.

Sophie: Absolutely. And I guess, adjusting to the new patch and all that sort of thing. I did want to touch on the patch, because as we’re doing this, we’re now on 7.41a — and a lot of people have been talking about facets and how they’re not in the game anymore.

For you as a coach, how big of a consideration were facets when you were drafting?

343: I think there was a lack of balance in most facets. There was rarely any situation where you would pick a hero and you would go for a niche kind of facet. It was always kind of the same, so I don’t think it’s a big deal. I think people got very used to it, and there are some numbers from some of the facets that are just gone.

Facets being removed is a display that the developers will commit to an idea to see it through before abandoning it when it just doesn't work.

Facets were a great idea that were tough to balance and didn't achieve its goal: dealing with your hero pick being countered at draft. https://t.co/MKrYiyWYX7

— Torte de Lini (@TorteDeLini) March 25, 2026

Tiny is probably one of the best examples, because he lost his Toss, he has to buy Aghanim’s Shard now; item builds changed. I think there are also things in the game that changed overall. Shiva’s Guard is kind of different now, because it goes through BKB now. Before, when you played against Shiva, you had to buy BKB. Now, you have to buy attack speed or damage, and there’s not actually many items that provide that. So, these things affect heroes in the meta, and we probably won’t see it at this tournament at all — but two weeks from now, it’s probably going to be totally different again.

Sophie: I was thinking the same about Refresher Orb as well, and how it’s not going to refresh items anymore. Do you think that’s going to change late game for a lot of teams?

343: I feel like, if anything, it probably affects Turbo [laughs].  I think the only Refresher heroes that have been OP are Beastmaster, Primal Beast, and Sand King, and they’re still kind of strong. Sand King without BKB? He’s less OP, sure. But when he comes in with the second Epicenter, it doesn’t really change that much. Beastmaster is okay, but he’s still playable. It’s still like, maybe you need the item sometimes just so you can have two spells [in a fight].