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Topias Miikka Taavitsainen (born 14 April 1998), better known as Topson, is a Finnish former professional ''
Dota 2 ''Dota 2'' is a 2013 multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game by Valve Corporation, Valve. The game is a sequel to ''Defense of the Ancients'' (''DotA''), a community-created Mod (video gaming), mod for Blizzard Entertainment's ''War ...
'' player. As a member of OG, he won The International 2018 and
The International 2019 The International 2019 (TI9) was the ninth iteration of The International, an annual ''Dota 2'' world championship esports tournament. Hosted by Valve, the game's developer, the tournament followed a year-long series of awarding qualifying poin ...
.


Early life

Topias Miikka Taavitsainen was born in
Haukipudas Haukipudas is a town and former municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It was located in the provinces of Finland, province of Oulu (province), Oulu and is part of the Northern Ostrobothnia regions of Finland, region. Its shore runs ...
,
Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
on 14 April 1998. He has seven brothers and four sisters. At the encouragement of his brothers, he began playing ''
Defense of the Ancients ''Defense of the Ancients'' (''DotA'') is a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) mod (video gaming), mod for the video game ''Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos'' (2002) and its expansion, ''The Frozen Throne'' (2003). The objective of the game is ...
'' when he was eight years old. His father owns a construction company and grew up as Laestadian family. His parents were doubtful if playing video games as a career would be profitable, but his eventual success of winning tournaments surprised his mother. He originally studied to be an electrician but transferred to a cooking school after one year.


Career

Taavitsainen made appearances on lower-level squads in events before his big breakthrough. While none of these teams made an impact, his gameplay got noticed. His breakout for professional scene moment came in 2017. He had joined the Russian organisation SFT e-sports, where they had decided to pick up an entirely new roster. It was the first time that he had played for a high-tier team. After trying his luck with several teams, he focused on streaming and soon topped the European region by way of MMR. He was then recruited to join OG in 2018. Prior to The International 2018, OG lost three members of its roster with co-founder and captain Fly and s4 leaving to join
Evil Geniuses Evil Geniuses (EG) is an American esports organization based in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington. Founded in 1999, the organization has fielded players in various fighting games, ''Call of Duty (series), Call of Duty'', ''Counter-Strike ...
and Resolut1on being released from his contract. With majority of top level players already being committed to teams for the upcoming competition, OG offered a position to Taavitsainen who was at that point an unproven newbie who had never participated in a major LAN event. Due to such late roster change, OG was no longer eligible to be directly invited to The International 2018 and instead qualified through Open Qualifiers. Following that, OG were then placed into group A of The International's group stage, finishing fourth with a record of 9–7, which seeded them into the upper bracket. There, OG won every series to advance to the grand finals. Facing the lower bracket winner PSG.LGD in it, whom OG had just defeated in the upper bracket finals, OG won the game one, but lost the next two games. Needing another win to avoid losing the series, OG forced a late-game comeback in game four, and subsequently won game five in a similar fashion, making them International champions and winning them over $11 million in prize money. Their victory was considered a
Cinderella "Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...
and
underdog An underdog is a person or group in a competition, usually in sports and creative works, who is largely expected to lose. The party, team, or individual expected to win is called the favorite or wikt:top dog, top dog. In the case where an under ...
success story, as they had come from the open qualifiers and had beaten some of the more favored and accomplished teams along the way. OG and Taavitsainen continued their reign as
The International 2019 The International 2019 (TI9) was the ninth iteration of The International, an annual ''Dota 2'' world championship esports tournament. Hosted by Valve, the game's developer, the tournament followed a year-long series of awarding qualifying poin ...
champions, defeating
Team Liquid Team Liquid is a multi-regional professional esports organization based in the Netherlands that was founded in 2000. They signed their first professional players with the release of '' StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty''. In 2012, Team Liquid acq ...
3–1 to become the first team to win back-to-back Internationals. Taavitsainen remained in the roster until the conclusion of
The International 2021 The International 2021, also known as The International 10 (TI10), was the tenth iteration of The International, an annual ''Dota 2'' world championship esports tournament. Hosted by Valve, the game's developer, the tournament followed a year-lo ...
, as OG were unable to defend their title after losing to eventual champions
Team Spirit Team Spirit was a joint military training exercise of United States Forces Korea and the Military of South Korea held between 1974 and 1993. The exercise was also scheduled from 1994 to 1996 but cancelled during this time period as part of diplom ...
2–0 in the lower bracket. After a short hiatus from professional play, Taavitsainen joined T1 as a stand-in ahead of SEA qualifiers for
The International 2022 The International 2022 (also known as TI 11 and TI 2022) was the 11th iteration of The International, an annual ''Dota 2'' world championship esports tournament hosted by Valve, the game's developer. The tournament followed the Dota Pro Circuit ...
. Albeit, the team was unable to qualify for the main event, with Taavitsainen leaving the roster to join Ceb and N0tail in their team, "Old G". After a brief reunion, Taavitsainen ended up joining defending champions Tundra Esports ahead of
The International 2023 The International 2023 (commonly referred to as TI 2023 or TI 12) was the concluding tournament of the multiplayer online battle arena ( MOBA) game ''Dota 2''. The International is the concluding international tournament of the '' Dota Pro Circu ...
. However, the roster was eliminated by Entity in the group stage of the event. Taavitsainen remained with the roster for the 2024 season, with Tundra Esports picking up a third place finish at
The International 2024 The International 2024 (also known as TI 13 and TI 2024), was the 13th edition of The International, the annual ''Dota 2'' world championship esports tournament hosted by Valve, the game's developer. The tournament was held at the Royal Arena in ...
after losing to Gaimin Gladiators in the lower bracket final. The event marked Taavitsainen's final appearance in professional play, as he announced his retirement from competitive Dota 2 due to family reasons and to enlist for mandatory military service in Finland.


Playstyle

Prior to The International 2018, Taavitsainen was considered to be one of weaker middle laners due to his unorthodox hero pool, questionable in-game strategic choices, and tendency to lose the middle lane. In the latter stages of his career, Taavitsainen became renowned for his innovative playstyle, utilising his experience with unorthodox circumstances and his deep understanding of game mechanics to exploit weaknesses that other professionals had not yet considered. Taavitsainen's style has been described as being more selfless than most professional mid-laners, moving away from the rigid traditional expectations of the mid-lane role, and developing a flexibility of playstyle that allowed his team to draft and play in a more dynamic manner.


Personal life

He is married to Malaysian-born Mawar Remy Taavitsainen. The couple first appeared together publicly during a Red Bull film screening in August 2019, shortly after his first International victory. They welcomed their daughter, Riina, on September 18, 2022. Following her birth, he took a hiatus from professional Dota 2 to focus on his family. Mawar has expressed strong support for his potential return to competitive gaming, often accompanying him to public events and screenings related to his career.


References


External links

* * {{Professional Dota 2 competition 1998 births Living people Dota players OG (esports) players Finnish esports players 21st-century Finnish people Laestadians