Ari Moved to OG’s Inactive Roster Ahead of PGL Wallachia

OG’s roster woes continue with yet another player leaving the active roster and this time it’s the UK’s only tier 1 Dota player, Matthew “Ari” Walker. OG have consistently struggle to hold a roster together for some time now and the impact of this has showed. While OG are set to compete at their first LAN in quite some time at PGL Wallachia Season 3, it seems they’ll be doing it without their reliable position 4.

OG Announces Ari’s Move to Inactive Roster

The announcement came today on OG’s official X account and at the time of writing, Ari himself hasn’t commented. We also haven’t been given a reason for this move, nor do we know if it was expected by either org or player.

Most recently, OG took part in qualifiers for 3 separate LANs including ESL One Raleigh and DreamLeague Season 25 but only managed to make it to one, PGL Wallachia Season 3. Ari is front and center in the image posted on social media announcing the qualification so it feels a bit weird that he’d then not take part in the tournament. I can only speculate at this point and truth be told, we may not find out exactly what happened.

Today, Ari has been moved to our inactive roster.

He has been a valued part of our journey throughout the past year and we are grateful for his contributions to the team.

Thank you, @Aribeonaty <3 pic.twitter.com/mjdme5GN1o

— OG (@OGesports) January 29, 2025

Inconsistent Roster, Inconsistent Results

Ever since their double-TI winning roster disbanded after their three-peat TI run, OG have consistently struggled to reach the heights of their success again. The original OG 2.0 roster got off to an incredible start, taking home 2 ESL One wins in 2022 but that was the last time we saw them lift a trophy. We haven’t even seen them make an appearance at TI since their 7th-8th place finish in 2022.

There isn’t one problem that I can point to that will explain all of this away but it really doesn’t seem to me that Ari is high on the list of problems. In fact, his Hoodwink gameplay was a thorn in the side of many teams during his year long tenure.

This team has had more players than hot dinners in recent years and as a fan, I’m disappointed to see them keep on this theme. When I think about some of the most successful Dota teams in the world, they do have more consistent rosters (well, consistent by Dota standards) so perhaps OG just haven’t found the synergy that allows them to stick together for extended periods of time.

The fact of the matter is it’s only January and already, Wisper left OG to join HEROIC, xNova’s trial ended unsuccessfully, veteran coach Bonkers’ contract wasn’t renewed and now, Ari has been moved to the inactive roster.

So, with everything up in the air, the only thing left to do is wait to see who is going to step into Ari’s role next before the start of PGL Wallachia Season 3 on March 8th.