OG had a rough year in Dota 2, with the organization dealing with multiple roster shifts and missing out on its first iteration of The International since it formed in 2015. The team is now entering a rebuild after releasing several players, and the rollercoaster rolls on—it looks like OG may have terminated DM’s contract for coaching 9Pandas without permission.
As of Oct. 12, OG announced it was moving on from DM since his contract with the team had “come to an end.”
An hour later, 9Pandas confirmed DM was joining as coach for The International 2023—essentially confirming something had been going on behind the scenes.
During DreamLeague Season 21 from Sept. 18 to 24, viewers spotted DM sitting behind some of the 9Pandas players on-stream. At the time, DM had only recently been moved to OG’s inactive roster after the team missed out on TI 2023 via the regional qualifiers—bringing in MinD_ContRoL as a stand-in to compete at DL21 themselves.
9Pandas denied DM was coaching the team, with RAMZES stating they didn’t have a coach and that “DM is our buddy.”
Viewers watching the matches didn’t buy it, however, especially since he was present during several of the team’s matches, including against his at-the-time team. Those claims have also been mostly debunked by EEU insiders like Vladimir “Maelstorm” Kuzminov, who noted DM had been coaching them for “quite a while.”
An anonymous source has confirmed to Dot Esports that OG filed a dispute with ESL about the personnel allowed behind teams during drafts at DL21, followed by a “war of words” between the org and 9Pandas regarding the situation.
According to sources, 9Pandas claimed the team had reached out to OG about DM coaching the team but did not receive permission or pay OG to move forward with him in the position while DM was still under contract. OG reportedly denied those claims.
OG was “mad” about how things unfolded and “canceled” DM’s contract when the team began making moves in October. It is unclear if the team did that because DM breached his contract by working with another team while still technically with OG or if 9Pandas’ claims this was a transfer are true.
When Dot Esports reached out for confirmation, a spokesperson for OG stated it was “not offering comments on the situation.”
DM will coach 9Pandas as they continue their TI 2023 campaign and OG will begin exploring options for its open roster spots heading into a 2024 season without the Dota Pro Circuit.
