Topias Miikka Taavitsainen, born on April 14, 1998, is known as Topson. He is a Finnish former professional Dota 2 player. He was part of the team OG and won The International tournaments in 2018 and 2019.

Early life

Topias Miikka Taavitsainen was born on April 14, 1998, in Haukipudas, Finland. He has seven brothers and four sisters. With the help of his brothers, he began playing Defense of the Ancients when he was eight years old. His father owns a construction company and was part of a Laestadian family. His parents were unsure if playing video games for a living would be a good choice, but his success in winning tournaments surprised his mother. He originally planned to become an electrician but switched to a cooking school after one year.

Career

Taavitsainen played for lower-level teams in events before his major success. Although these teams did not achieve much, his performance was noticed. His big moment in professional play happened in 2017 when he joined the Russian organization SFT e-sports. This was the first time he played for a top-tier team, as SFT decided to form a new roster. After trying with several teams, he focused on streaming and later became the top player in Europe based on his MMR score. In 2018, he was invited to join OG.

Before The International 2018, OG lost three players, including co-founder Fly and captain s4, who joined other teams, and Resolut1on left his contract. Many top players were already signed for the competition, so OG offered Taavitsainen a spot, even though he had no experience in major LAN events. Because of this late change, OG could not be directly invited to The International 2018 and had to qualify through Open Qualifiers.

At The International 2018, OG was placed in Group A, finishing fourth with a 9–7 record, which placed them in the upper bracket. In the upper bracket, OG won all their matches to reach the grand finals. They faced PSG.LGD, the lower bracket winner, whom they had already defeated in the upper bracket finals. OG won the first game but lost the next two. To avoid losing the series, OG made a comeback in the fourth game and won the fifth, becoming International champions and earning over $11 million in prize money. Their victory was seen as an unexpected success, as they had qualified through open qualifiers and defeated stronger teams.

OG and Taavitsainen won The International 2019 again, defeating Team Liquid 3–1 to become the first team to win back-to-back Internationals. Taavitsainen stayed with OG until The International 2021, when OG lost to Team Spirit 2–0 in the lower bracket.

After a short break, Taavitsainen joined T1 as a temporary player for The International 2022 SEA qualifiers. However, T1 did not qualify for the main event, and Taavitsainen left to join Ceb and N0tail’s team, "Old G."

After a short return, Taavitsainen joined Tundra Esports for The International 2023. However, Tundra was eliminated in the group stage by Entity. Taavitsainen stayed with Tundra for the 2024 season, where they finished third after losing to Gaimin Gladiators in the lower bracket final. This marked Taavitsainen’s last professional appearance, as he retired from competitive Dota 2 to focus on family and to fulfill mandatory military service in Finland.

Playstyle

Before The International 2018, Taavitsainen was seen as one of the less skilled middle laners because of his unusual choice of characters, decisions during games that sometimes did not work well, and a pattern of losing the middle lane. Later in his career, Taavitsainen became known for his creative way of playing, using his experience with unusual situations and his strong knowledge of how the game works to find weaknesses that other players had not noticed. His playing style was described as more selfless than most professional mid-laners, moving away from strict traditional rules for the mid-lane role, and showing the ability to change his approach so his team could play in a more adaptable way.

Personal life

He is married to Mawar Remy Taavitsainen, who was born in Malaysia. The couple first met the public at a Red Bull movie showing in August 2019, soon after his first big win in the International competition. They had a daughter named Riina on September 18, 2020. After Riina was born, he took a break from playing professional Dota 2 to spend time with his family. Mawar has shown strong support for him returning to competitive gaming. She often goes with him to events and movie showings connected to his work.