NEU » Martinez pulled the Tigers to

Its better than what I thought was going to happen, honestly.Thats how Johan n0tail Sundstein, one-role player and founding member of OG, described the outcome of the roster shuffle season. After every International, Dota 2 teams begin to unscramble and reassemble, piecing together new squads and losing dead weight in order to better themselves in response to the 2016 season. After a disappointing 9-12th place showing at TI6, OG was on tenuous ground.Post-TI shuffle is always weird, Sundstein said. You can never try and fully predict whats gonna happen. You can have a couple of ideas and you might get some of them right. But its just a very unpredictable thing. How it turned out, though, was pretty good in my opinion.The former OG was an all-star team, the victor of two Majors and poised for the top. Now only Sundstein and captain Tal Fly Aizik remain; but in the gap left by the shuffle, the team has found new talent, and already took third at one international LAN. OG may have been wounded, but it continues to be a contender headed into the 2017 season.Pocket acesThe key to OGs new look is its newcomers. Sundstein and Aizik are joined by three players who all bring their own quirks and abilities to the table. Jesse JerAx Vainikka is the most recognizable quantity, coming off a breakout season on Team Liquid to play four-role support. Sundstein described Vainikka as one of the best support players of last year, but for Vainikka himself, hes still finding his footing on the squad.While Vainikka returns to a comfortable role, Gustav s4 Magnusson is challenging himself with a new venture into the offlane. It was a shift Magnusson said hes been thinking about for some time, but moving to OG gave him the chance to leave his comfort zone in the mid lane. From my perspective, I view S4 as one of those guys that keeps track of the map, said Sundstein of Magnussons new role. I see him shine a lot more on heroes that punishes teams for a lack of focus, or when they split up, because he has such good control of whats happening everywhere, not just next to him. If I had to put a role on somebody who had that quality, what role would fit them best is offlane. Right now all the initiation happens from the offlane: Slardars, Clockworks, Nyxs, the jumpers are usually in the offlane. So for me, its kind of natural. Its been very natural having S4 as an offlane player.Magnusson echoes Sundsteins sentiments; the playstyle that he excels in lies more in the offlane, and so hes taking up the challenge. For me, the offlane role and the heroes that are being played there fits me perfectly, so thats a big reason why I wanted to switch the lanes, said Magnusson. I thought more about the heroes [themselves] rather than the lane when I made the decision. Playing it now, Im enjoying the challenge to perform and show people that you can do something different with enough practice. Im very hard on myself because I feel like thats how I will improve the most.With two aces from other teams, it might be fitting that OG would seek a third. Instead, the team went in a different direction for the mid lane vacancy. A relatively unknown player at the time, 17-year-old Anathan ana Pham, was sitting on the Invictus Gaming bench when OG captain Aizik first took notice of him. After TI6, Aizik recalled the conversation and got in touch.I couldnt think of a veteran player who was not already on a team that I would be extremely happy in having, so having some new talent was the next go-to idea, Aizik said. I wanted someone who is dedicated, talented and also daring. I saw all these qualities in [Pham], despite his young age.Many players, especially in the mid lane, are young upstarts. Look at EGs Syed Sumail SumaiL Hassan or Abed Abed Yusop, who made a name for himself on Execration at TI6.When I was younger, I used to play [Pham]s role, said Sundstein. I was the guy who was gonna focus purely on mechanical skill, purely on my own read on the game. Back then, you arent really trying to replicate scenarios as a player, at least not intellectually. Youre doing it all instinctively. All you do is play. All you do is mechanics. Youre, in a way, in-tune with the game, and that goes away the older you get.Pham was the wild card for OG, so bringing him on was certainly a gamble for the team. He had some impressive showings against Newbee as a sub for IG, but lacked seasoned experience. For Pham, theres been some culture shock, from getting adjusted to American pubs (which he says are less team-oriented than Chinese pubs), to overcoming the distance hes traveled. Jumping from his homeland of Australia to China for a year with IG, and now to the West to play with OG.Homesickness strikes me occasionally, but I guess thats part of the job, said Pham. When I first joined OG, it was quite a shock to myself. Entering that level of Dota is challenging for me. This is the first time Ive played pro Dota in an English-speaking environment, and its definitely much easier. There is a lot of room for me to improve, but I feel like my journey has been going really well.Beyond the metaThese aces came together for a third-place finish at MDL, a solid outing for the team where it took games off Newbee, Team Secret, EG and Vici Gaming. Despite a 2-1 loss in the losers finals to Evil Geniuses, Sundstein is content with his teams performance regardless of the outcome.All tournaments are unique, said Sundstein. Our performance against the teams at MDL, the way we lost games, the way we won games, it was very good for me. I found myself being very happy after the tournament.Where OG will seek to improve over the coming weeks, and even throughout the year, looks very different from previous seasons. In many different patches, the game was defined by heroes that were strong on the patch, and the pros who could play them. All pro players nowadays have a strong understanding of the game and individual heroes. The mechanics arent an issue anymore; its what teams are doing once mechanical skill isnt a defining factor.What I think is really important for us is how to take it to the next level, in terms of getting on the same page, working on communication, said Sundstein. And then the biggest thing, for me, is how youre feeling mentally, how youre mentally going to prepare yourself, work on atmosphere. These things are what I think is gonna matter most for us.Even during the offseason, the players of OG have been hard at work. The last couple months since the conclusion of TI have been quiet from a tournament standpoint. This is usually a time when players might take time off. Sundstein says hes been working on renovating his new apartment, where he and his girlfriend will be staying. Furnishing, new locks, all the trials and tribulations of new property ownership - but he still finds time to boot up Dota 2.I dont think any pro player really escapes the game, said Sundstein. They might want to take some time off, but I dont think any of the tier one players actually spend more than one week without playing a single game.For players like Sundstein, Aizik and the rest of OG, they have reached the upper tier of Dota teams. The issues of the past, like making enough tournament winnings to survive or struggling to juggle competition with a day job to support yourself, are gone. Theres only one goal in mind: the Aegis in Seattle. Already, OG is juggling scheduling, planning tournaments and boot camps.Building a green dreamThe unofficial motto for OG has been Dream Green, a saying for fans to put their hopes towards the teams success. But the green dream has been something else for founding members Sundstein and Aizik, as well as manager Evany Chang. Its been a lot harder than I anticipated, Sundstein said. Its been very hard, trying to create an org that you want while being a player. But I stand by what we do. We did it to try and do the right thing, and going into tournaments with your own organization, knowing that youre not dealing with some people you might not want to be dealing with, its a much nicer feeling. I do not regret what we did, but like I said, its been a lot harder than I originally thought.Sundstein has been in the scene for many years now, and has seen the ups and downs, the good and bad. For Sundstein, he has his own vision: an organization needs to have something to offer to players, to better them both inside and outside the game, and avoid taking advantage of its players. An organization might poach one of the best teams, and give them half of what they deserve, or half of what the organization should be offering them, said Sundstein. The organization might be making a lot of money off this one team, knowingly, but they get away with it because young players, young scene. This scholarship, this opportunity, isnt what its supposed to be yet.Team manager Chang, who has also dealt with hardships in the past, reiterated the teams drive to help players in the long run. She says she hopes to see OG establish itself among top names, such as EG and TL, with continued hard work from the organization.When it comes to victories, though, Sundstein doesnt seem as dead-set on the prize. The success will come. Winning is not everything, Sundstein said. I think thats a stupid thing to say, because I feel like a lot of games are being ruined by this idea of points, ranked matchmaking systems, MMR, tournament placements, of being above others. I think thats becoming too much, and people are forgetting theyre actually playing games. Air Max 270 Ultramarine Pas Cher . Paul Pierce couldnt believe he missed at the end. Young scored a season-high 26 points to spark a huge effort from the leagues most productive bench, and Los Angeles beat the Brooklyn Nets 99-94 on Wednesday night after blowing a 27-point lead. Air Max 270 2021 Pas Cher . -- If Henry Burris has his way, he will be the starting quarterback to lead the Hamilton Tiger-Cats back to the Grey Cup next year. http://www.airmax270reactpascher.fr/fausse-air-max-270-react-beige.html . PAUL, Minn. Air Max 270 Just Do It Pas cher . -- About a third of the way through the regular season, the Washington Wizards are at . Air Max 270 Bowfin Gris . -- Arizona raced out to a big lead and did not back off, hitting the accelerator instead. DETROIT -- The Detroit Tigers honored David Ortiz with a pregame ceremony that included two of his closest friends in baseball.It didnt help.Ortizs two-run homer in the fifth inning turned out to be the difference in Bostons 3-2 victory over the slumping Tigers on a rainy Saturday night.It was a hanging breaking ball, and I got it, Ortiz said.When asked if he knew the ball was gone off the bat, he laughed.Of course I knew. Next question.Hours earlier, Tigers general manager Al Avila had joined with Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez for a tribute to Ortizs career . After all three talked about Ortizs impact in pre-recorded videos, they presented him with a large framed photograph from his appearance in the 2005 All-Star Game in Detroit.That meant a lot to me, because those two guys are brothers to me -- they are family, Ortiz said. To hear what they said about me was great. They will stay with me forever.The start of the game was delayed 80 minutes by storms that moved into the area during the afternoon, and another heavy downpour interrupted the game for about 71 minutes after the fifth inning.That was a long night, but we never lost our focus, Red Sox manager John Farrell said. Luckily, David got a high fastball and put it out. We needed that.Drew Pomeranz (2-2) gave up one run and four hits in five innings. He struck out three, but did not walk a batter. Craig Kimbrel got the last four outs for his 22nd save.When we knew we were going to need to get Miggy, Victor and J.D. Martinez, the four-out save seemed like the right decision, Farrell said.Kimbrel retired those three, but still almost blew the save.Justin Upton drove a ball to deep center field and started celebrating the game-tying homer, but it hit inches from the top of the fence, 420 feet away.I hit that ball about as good as I can hit it, Upton said. I was obviously shocked, but at the same time you know what park you are playing in. Its a big yard out there.Upton ended up on second, and Casey McGehee struck out to end the game at 12:17 am.James McCann and J.D. Martinez homered for the Tigers, who have lost 10 of 13.We cant worry about that -- we have another game tomorrow, Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said before looking at the clock. Well, we actually have another game later today.Daniel Norris (1-2) took the loss, giving up three runs and eight hits in his five innings. He walked two and struck out four whille escaping multiple jams.ddddddddddddI thought he looked good, McCann said. We attacked with his fastball and had success, but unfortunately the rain cut his outing short.Boston took the lead in the third, but could have had a much bigger inning. Dustin Pedroia, Xander Bogaerts and Ortiz started it with singles to load the bases, but Mookie Betts hit into a double play.Pedroia scored and Norris walked Hanley Ramirez before retiring Jackie Bradley Jr. to end the inning.McCann then tied the game with a solo homer in the bottom of the inning.Ortiz, though, broke the tie in the fifth with his second homer in two nights. The two-run shot gave him 1,500 RBI with the Red Sox.The Tigers put their first two runners on in the bottom of the fifth, but McCann hit into a double play and Andrew Romine grounded out. Moments later, the second storm hit, resulting in a 71-minute delay.Martinez pulled the Tigers to 3-2 with a long homer to left in the seventh. Matt Barnes walked two batters in the eighth, but Erick Aybar popped out on the first pitch he saw for the second out.That brought Kimbrel in to face Cabrera for the first time in their careers. Cabrera lined out to left field on an 0-1 pitch.I thought that Craig getting out of that on two pitches was huge, Farrell said. That set him up to get able to get through the ninth.TRAINERS ROOMRed Sox: OF Chris Young (hamstring) has played in six rehab games with Triple-A Pawtucket, and is hitting .211 (4-for-19) with two doubles. He has also played three games in left field.Tigers: OF Cameron Maybin (wrist) took batting practice with the team in the indoor cages under the stands. The Tigers hope to have him back in about a week.THANKING BIG PAPIDuring his speech, Avila joked about Detroit also always remembering the damage Ortiz has done -- a reference to his series-changing grand slam in the 2013 ALCS -- while Cabrera, speaking in Spanish, pleaded with him to play one more season.UP NEXTThe teams finish the four-game series Sunday afternoon with Detroit ace Justin Verlander (12-7, 3.44) facing Bostons Henry Owens, who is replacing scheduled starter Eduardo Rodriguez (hamstring). The Red Sox are one of the few teams with a positive record against Verlander, who is 4-5 with a 3.05 ERA in 14 starts against them. ' ' '