The History of Ceb – The Playmaker

Arguably one of the best analysts and players Dota 2 has ever seen, Sébastien “Ceb” Debs, formerly known as “7ckngMad”, is one of Dota 2’s most historic players. He’s played multiple roles such as mid, support, roamer, and more.

Ceb in Esports

Ceb’s professional Dota 2 career started with Team Shakira back in 2011. The team placed fourth in Dreamhack Winter 2011. After a solid performance, the team was immediately picked up by Western Wolves. Just three months into Western Wolves, things didn’t go as planned and Ceb left the team, citing roster issues. He then decided to join Mortal Teamwork (mTw) led by Troels “SyndereN” Nielsen.

What Happened at Mortal Teamwork

The newly formed mTw squad managed to win their first Dota 2 tournament and went on to beat team NEXT.kz in the finals of Qualifiers for The International 2012. mTw continued on a winning stride, succeeding in almost every tournament it took part in. Ceb’s team was considered one of the top contenders for TI12.

But contrary to everyone’s expectations, a team-wide collapse happened. Ceb and his team ended up at the bottom of their group with a score of 3-11, only winning three games. With interpersonal issues leading to a subpar performance by the team, Ceb once again left, moving back to Team Shakira.

Image credit to ESL.

Coach Ceb

Two months down the line after reforming Team Shakira, four of the players on the team played in Electronic Sports World Cup 2012 under the name of Shiba Gaming. With the help of Alexander “CalculuS” Rathcke, they finished in third place. The players then decided to merge with Dota esports’ MeetYourMakers (MYM), forming a six-man roster where Ceb transitioned into the role of coach/manager/stand-in for the first time.

After the formation of the team, they decided not to work with MYM and formed team DD.Dota. Soon after, one of the players left the team, which paved the way for Ceb’s return to the main roster.

Prior to The International 2013 qualifiers, there was another roster shuffle that saw the addition of two new players. After placing second in the qualifiers, they faced Chinese team RattleSnake in the Wildcard entry match. Before the wildcard match, they were signed by Quantic Gaming and hence entered the tournament as Team Quantic.

The wildcard game ended in a heartbreaking fashion for Ceb and his team. RattleSnake eliminated Quantic 3-1. This ended all hopes for Ceb and his team to qualify further in TI3. Player after player left, and once again, Ceb and Titouan “Sockshka” Merloz were left. They then formed a new team outside of Quantic Gaming.

Dota 2 Team Sigma and Alliance

The new team first went back under the name DD.Dota for about a month before a new organization stepped in to sponsor the squad. French-based team Sigma signed them. Ceb found his most successful run with Sigma, qualifying for several premier events and tournaments. But soon, Sigma performed poorly. With a last-place finish in DreamLeague, Ceb was once again wandering from team to team.

After various stints on multiple teams, Ceb was picked up by Alliance. The team seemed to be on the road to recovery when they failed to qualify for The International 2015 but earned a top 4 placement at DreamLeague. However, it turned out to be for nothing, as an early departure from ESL One Frankfurt 2015 would be Ceb’s last tournament with Alliance. Ceb returned to wandering Dota 2 esports.

OG Esports

Ceb progressively lost prominence as an active player, with low placements on various teams. After serving as an analyst at the Shanghai Major, he decided to become OG Esports’ coach and once again showcased his skills through the team’s results. As OG’s coach, he proceeded to oversee the team’s victories and dominance at the Frankfurt, Manila, Boston, and Kiev Majors, all of which OG won.

Following Roman “Resolut1on” Fominok’s departure from OG in March 2018, he became a stand-in player until June, before officially filling the offlane position for The International 2018. Team OG then won both TI8 and TI9 to become the first team to win Dota 2 esports’ Aegis back to back.

Image credit to Valve.

The International 2019 Aftermath

Earlier in 2020, Ceb announced that he would leave the active roster to focus on the internal functions of the organization. Soon after, multiple players took a break, leading to Yeik “MidOne” Nai Zheng, Martin “Saksa” Sazdov and Syed Sumail “SumaiL” Hassan joining OG Esports.

But once again, things didn’t go as planned. A roster change saw SumaiL being replaced by Ceb, that happened because of current lockdowns from COVID-19.

Today, we would also like to thank @SumaaaaiL for his time with OG, we wish him the best of luck for what will come next for him.

He is one of the best players in the world and a fantastic person to work with, we will miss him.#DreamOG pic.twitter.com/oVvpwUJpDO

— OG (@OGesports) July 25, 2020

The updated OG roster will consist of, Topias Miikka “Topson” Taavitsainen, Ceb, MidOne, Saksa and Johan “N0tail” Sundstein.

What’s Next for Ceb in Dota 2 Esports

Between Sumail’s departure and Ceb joining, the team now seems to be better balanced. Ceb is a cautious playmaker who sets his teammates up to scale in the game. With the safe-lane role now empty, it will be interesting to see if Ceb takes over this role as a carry or if he returns to his former role of off-lane.

If Ceb does go back to his off-lane role, fans can expect Topson to take over as safelaner while Midone returns to mid. Either way, fans will be excited to watch OG play in OMEGA League competing against other top tier teams for a prize pool of $550 thousand. The main event will start on August 14 and last until September 6, with a total of two series played per team each week.

Written by Chandan Padhi