The Manila Major was a culmination of two divergent storylines for fans of Western Dota 2. On the one hand, we saw OG and Team Liquid consolidate their position on top of the Dota 2 world. On the other hand, Evil Geniuses and Team Secret finally cracked, following their slow creep toward disappointment that began after their post-Shanghai roster swaps.

Much has been said about the failings of EG and Secret, and discussion of their most recent roster changes dominated the industry even before the Manila Major ended. But far too little has been said about what OG and Liquid have done right to continue their ascent and maintain stability at the top of the Dota 2 world. It is a misleading narrative that characterizes all four teams as being in similar positions, which suggests that OG and Liquid succeeded merely because they didn't make the mistakes EG and Secret did. Editor's Picks What we learned from the Hearthstone Europe Spring Championship

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Roster stability: A double-edged sword

It would be easy to start with the fact that OG and Liquid have both maintained the same rosters since forming after The International 5. But this is too simple an explanation, as there are several reasons why teams often need to make roster changes to maintain a high level of play. What OG and Liquid have done right is not just maintain their rosters, but also maintain them the right way, avoiding pitfalls.

There are particular challenges that exist for teams at the top of the scene. For one thing, when you're the best, it's more difficult to find opponents who are at your level or higher to learn from. Of course, even the best teams can isolate certain aspects of other teams' play and learn by studying or facing off against them. But this requires greater diligence than merely scrimming against them and benefiting based on the fact that their most basic habits can inform your progress.

There is a level of analysis required when seeking ways to improve from teams or players when no such team or player exists that is obviously better than you. You need to be able to reflect and identify your own weaknesses, seek out those who have overcome those problems, study what they do, and turn them into strengths.

Meanwhile, when you're on top, you also have a target on your back and you can be rest assured that all your competition will be focusing much of their attention on you going into an event. This means it is necessary to preemptively plan ways to deal with suspected attempts to counter your strategies.

Additionally, the rate with which Dota 2's metagame changes means that a team needs to be able to constantly adapt. Some players might prefer play styles naturally suited better to one meta than another and those players will have to put in extra work to adjust their thinking in order to bring the same level of play to their game.

Team Liquid march onto the stage for their match against LGD in the loser's bracket at the Manila Major. Linus Escandor II for ESPN

Lastly, when a team at the top has been together for a long time, their thinking can become stale. Everyone knows everyone else's ideas and brainstorming can become a bit of an echo chamber. In order to address this, teams need to make a conscious effort to innovate independently, perhaps with the help of a coach.

All of the above can be directly addressed with roster changes. With the recruitment of new players, teams immediately feel energized and motivated to work harder, inspired to create, and prepare for the challenges ahead. The exchange of ideas is refreshed, and any signs of complacency are easily eliminated.

It becomes more difficult for teams to study you as your approach to the game begins to change in order to develop a dynamic that fits your new group of players. And having less opponents to learn from is counteracted by the fact that you'll have more teammates to learn from.

Thus, there are several incentives for top teams to make roster changes and these are some of the key reasons they usually do. What OG and Liquid have shown is that it is possible to deal with these problems without making roster changes, provided you maintain a fiercely competitive and disciplined mindset. Both teams have worked hard all year, even immediately after their biggest successes, to improve their game and maintain their dominance.

Consistently entering events

There is no place where this is more visible than in the fact that both OG and Liquid have, in direct contrast to EG and Secret, consistently entered online qualifiers and participated in lower tier events this year. Since winning the Frankfurt Major, OG have participated in Starladder i-League qualifiers, and competed in both the Defense Season 5 and Seasons 4 and 5 of Dreamleague.

Meanwhile, Liquid have participated in as many as 4 LAN qualifiers during the same time period and also attended the Defense 5 and competed in BTS Europe #3. They are due to compete in this week's Global Grandmasters. Both these teams have competed in these smaller events and qualifiers despite also being in attendance for all the other premier LANs available to them. This is a stark contrast to EG and Secret, Secret having entered only one qualifier or smaller event since Frankfurt and EG having participated in none.

OG celebrate after coming back to beat Newbee 2-1 to keep their "Green Dream" alive and advance to the Manila Major grand finals. Linus Escandor II for ESPN

Indeed, with the introduction of the Major system, it appeared EG and Secret gained a sense of entitlement, expecting to be directly invited to all events worth participating in, and expecting that those, along with the Majors they'd surely be invited to, would be enough official match time to keep them up to scratch. Naturally, there are other training mechanisms available to teams such as scrims and drills. But there's no substitute for the real thing. Just as LAN matches are more valuable than online matches, so too are online matches more valuable than scrims. And particularly when you're dealing with all of the pressures of being a top tier team, getting in enough meaningful game time is extremely important.

OG and Liquid have mitigated many of the problems that are usually solved by roster changes without having to make any. This is because they've rarely become complacent with their status as top teams -- and where they've shown signs of doing so, as with OG in Shanghai, they've swiftly addressed the issue. These teams are aware that becoming the best is a lot easier than remaining the best and thus they continuously put in the work to justify their status.

No player is bigger than the team

Another key to OG and Liquid's continued success is their professional attitude towards each other. While roster changes can be solutions to some of the above discussed problems, they are as often a response to growing internal issues which can create a toxic environment that undermines a team's performances.

Typically, such dynamics arise due to a clash of egos, with players differing over ideas about how to play the game, or disrespecting one another's ability to fulfill their role correctly. Disagreements within a team are perfectly healthy, but it requires a certain level of emotional maturity to resolve them in a healthy manner rather than descending into a polarized and dysfunctional state.

Special credit must be given to both OG and Liquid for avoiding all of the 'star player' tropes. OG certainly do have a star player in the form of Miracle-. This guy would probably be the star of any team he was on right now, but nothing about his own behavior suggests he's even aware of that fact. As humble as he is brilliant, Miracle- dramatically reduces OG's risk of internal strife by deliberately positioning himself as a team player and nothing more. Never before has there been such an undisputed candidate for best player in the world and it is remarkable that he would be the one to buck the trend of star players having big public personas and wearing their status on their sleeves.

Members of Team Liquid hug each other as they defeat Newbee and head off to the grand finals against OG during the Manila Major. Linus Escandor II for ESPN

Meanwhile, Liquid are simply a team without a star. Perfectly described in their Manila Major introduction as "all for one and one for all," there is rarely an analysis of Liquid that can focus on one or two particular players and meaningfully say much about their likelihood of victory. There isn't just one player you need to shut down as the key to success. In some respects this is a disadvantage to the team, as teams who do present star players often have psychological advantages over their opponents, with their opponents feeling pressured to deal with that particular player before the game even begins.

That said, without presenting as a star, it is arguable that five-position support player JerAx does fill this role, psychologically. All of his signature heroes justify first phase bans and yet -- at least these days -- there's more than two of them. Again, importantly, despite being fully aware of the status his hero pool plays in every draft, JerAx presents as anything but arrogant. Like Miracle-, he's just a professional Dota 2 player doing his job.

While EG and Secret ushered in a new era of Western Dota 2, their substantive excellence has not always been matched by professional standards. EG in particular have been pioneers in professional management and even PPD's captaincy has shown signs of taking Dota 2 to the next level, taking seriously what it means for this to be your job.

However, the norms of professionalism within a successful team go further than the presence of some positive influences. The entire team's mentality, and how they view themselves as an entity, needs to be aligned and conducive to healthy progress and engagement. EG and Secret may have defeated China but it is OG and Liquid who were the first Western titans to conquer themselves, and thus the rest of the world.