ana (gamer)

Anathan Pham (born 26 October 1999), better known as ana, is an Australian professional Dota 2 player. As a member of OG, he has played in three iterations of The International, winning in 2018 and 2019, and has also won two Major championships tournaments.[1][2]

ana
ana in 2018
Personal information
NameAnathan Pham
Born (1999-10-26) 26 October 1999
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
NationalityAustralian
Career information
GameDota 2
Playing career2016–present
Team history
2016Invictus Gaming
2016–2021OG
2022T1
Career highlights and awards

Career

Early career

Pham was born in Melbourne, Australia on 26 October 1999.[3] An avid Dota 2 player, he often played 10+ hours a day to the point where it started to impact his education.[4] In 2016, Pham was offered a position in Invictus Gaming's in-house league. This necessitated moving to Shanghai. To pursue the opportunity, Pham dropped out of high school at age 16 and moved to Shanghai.

Pham began his professional Dota 2 career by joining Invictus Gaming in March 2016 as a substitute for Ferrari_430. His most notable accomplishment with the team was defeating Newbee in the grand finals of NEA 2016.[5]

Move to OG

Following The International 2016, Pham left the team to join OG. In November, he won his first ever tournament with OG at Elimination Mode Season 2 and later won his first major event by defeating Ad Finem 3–1 in the grand finals of Boston Major.[6]

The team's performance continued to stay consistent with additional top 4 performances at Dota Pit League Season 5, StarLadder i-League StarSeries Season 3, and Dota 2 Asia Championships 2017. Pham would then take his second major at Kiev Major, and the team was invited for The International 2017.[7]

During The International 2017, OG underperformed expectation, finishing at 7-8th position, falling at the hands of LGD Gaming.[8] Following their loss, Pham announced that he would be taking a break from the professional scene.[9] In early 2018 he joined the short-lived Echo International.[10]

2018

In 2018, months prior to The International 2018, OG's co-founder Fly left alongside s4, leaving OG struggling to fill their roster as all high level players had already signed for the upcoming competition. Pham thus re-joined OG alongside an unproven newbie Topson. With Topson being a solo middle specialist, Pham moved onto the hard carry role.[11] Despite a bad start at The International 2018's group stage, OG finished fourth and were seeded into the upper bracket of the main event. Considered underdogs during their entire time at the event, OG and Pham advanced to the grand finals and won the tournament by defeating PSG.LGD in the best-of-five series 3–2.[12][13] OG's win was characterised by some commentators as a Cinderella story[14] and "one of the greatest underdog stories ever; not just in esports, but in all competitive pursuits".[15]

Following the victory, Pham decided to take a break from professional Dota 2.[16]

2019–2021

He returned to the team in March 2019.[17] Later that year, Pham won The International 2019, making him and the rest of the team the first repeat winners of The International.[18] The commentators noted that Pham developed a completely novel carry Io strategy, which was previously considered to not be viable, which he utilised to great effect.[19][20]

Pham announced another hiatus from the team following the victory.[21] He returned to the active roster in April 2021.[22]

Retirement

After two months with the team, Pham announced his retirement from competitive Dota in June 2021.[23][24] However one year after his retirement, in 2022, he returned to the pro scene playing as a substitute player for Team Liquid and Royal Never Give Up in Riyadh Masters and PGL Arlington Major.

Playstyle
External video
YouTube logo
video icon Analysis of a short play by Pham

In his early career, Pham played in the position solo mid,[25] with comparatively little success. He received significant criticism for his solo mid performance and comparatively low creep score.[26][27] Prior to the International 2018, Pham transitioned to playing as a carry, leaving the solo mid position to Topias "Topson" Taavitsainen.

Pham has been described as an integral piece to OG's success. He developed a novel carry Io strategy which kept his opponents off balance throughout The International 2019.[28] He was noted for his so-called "game sense".[29] Commentators have called him as one of the best carry players, and one of the best Dota 2 players overall.[30][31]

Pham is noted for his long breaks from professional play, something that is generally recommended against, as the competitive landscape of Dota 2 can change quite rapidly.

References
  1. "OG become first back-to-back winners of The International 9". ESPN.com. ESPN. 25 August 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  2. Oilver Caffrey (28 August 2015). "Aussie teen Anathan 'Ana' Pham wins more than $3 million at International Dota 2 Championships". Perth Now. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  3. O'Connell, Brian (15 October 2019). "How Much Do eSports Players Make?". TheStreet. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  4. "TI7 Player Profile - Ana - OG". YouTube. Valve. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  5. Lee, Jonny (22 December 2016). "Eight of Dota 2's best pro midlaners". PC Gamer. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  6. van Allen, Eric (11 December 2016). "Boston Major: OG triumphant in third Major title". ESPN.com. ESPN. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  7. Rose, Victoria (18 June 2017). "The International 7 invites announced". The Flying Courier. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  8. Gies, Arthur (11 August 2017). "Day Four of The 2017 International Dota 2 Championships leaves five teams standing". Polygon. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  9. Rose, Victoria (17 August 2017). "Ana released from OG: 'Everyone on this team has taught me something'". The Flying Courier. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  10. Bonifacio, Patrick (30 January 2018). "ChuaN returns to active play with Forev, Keyser, Ana, and Saksa". Dot Esports. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  11. Bonifacio, Patrick (4 June 2018). "Ana returns to OG with Topson, roster roles rearranged". Dot Esports. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  12. Mike Stubbs (25 August 2015). "Ana is our MVP of The International 8". Red Bull. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  13. Max Laughton (26 August 2015). "Australia's Anathan 'ana' Pham helps OG win almost $US11.2 million at The International 2018 Dota 2 tournament". Fox Sports. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  14. van Allen, Eric (28 August 2018). "This Year, 'Dota 2' Gave Us A Cinderella Story for the Ages". www.vice.com. VICE.
  15. Laughton, Max (11 December 2018). "Dota 2 OG interview: On The International 8 win, n0tail on Fly's departure from team, ana on future plans". Fox Sports. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  16. Miguel Garcia, Nikko (19 November 2018). "'ana' of Dota 2 TI8 champs OG to take a break". Fox Sports Asia. Archived from the original on 26 August 2019. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  17. Partridge, Jon. "Ana on returning to OG and pro Dota". Red Bull. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  18. Michael, Cale (25 August 2019). "OG make history by beating Team Liquid and winning The International 2019". Shack News.
  19. Apduhan, Neslyn (18 August 2019). "OG play carry Io to win series at The International 2019". WIN.gg. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  20. "OG's coach says the team has never practiced Io carry for TI9". VPEsports. Archived from the original on 26 April 2021. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  21. Michael, Cale (25 January 2020). "OG's ana to extend break until 2020-21 Dota Pro Circuit". Shack News.
  22. Cockram, Tom. "Ana rejoins OG ahead of The International 10". Red Bull. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  23. "ana leaves OG, stepping away from Dota 2". Reuters. Field Level Media. 14 June 2021. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  24. Esports, OG (15 June 2021). "A Humble Goodbye". ogs.gg.
  25. Erzberg, Tyler (8 August 2017). "Ana is Australia's rising esports star - and doesn't know it". ESPN.com. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  26. Bago, Paolo (30 May 2017). "There's no slowing down for OG's ana". ESPN.com. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  27. "ana on community criticism: 'I either take it as a joke or as constructive criticism, or don't look at it at all depending on my mood'". www.thescoreesports.com. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  28. Michael, Cale (30 December 2019). "Best Dota 2 players of 2019". Dot Esports. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  29. "Anathan: The two-time champion who watches Gordon Ramsay videos instead of practicing". Esports.net. 26 March 2020. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  30. "Who are the Best Dota 2 Players of All Time? ▧". Gamer One. 27 December 2019. Archived from the original on 26 April 2021. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  31. Muresan, Radu (24 January 2020). "Best Dota 2 Players for the Carry Role in the world". Esports.net. Retrieved 26 April 2021.

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