PSG.LGD secures first TI10 finals spot with win over Team Secret
PSG.LGD is the first team headed to the grand finals of The International 2021.
The tournament favorite lived up to expectations in the upper bracket finals, taking down a surging Team Secret in 2-0 fashion. While it’s hardly a surprise that PSG.LGD played as well as it did, the team’s ability to handily dispatch an elite opponent cemented elite status in the finals regardless of the opponent.
Game one was entirely a matter of scaling, with PSG.LGD’s lineup outlasting Team Secret’s. As with Monkey King, Weaver has been used as a support for many of his appearances in TI10 but Clement “Puppey” Ivanov still viewed the hero as carry material and drafted him for Lasse Aukusti “MATUMBAMAN” Urpalainen. On the flipside, PSG.LGD carry Wang “Ame” Chunyu played Tiny.
Ame steadily grew as the game progressed while MATUMBAMAN fizzled under PSG.LGD’s immense crowd control. The game was basically dead even in terms of both experience and net worth until the 25-minute mark, at which point a PSG.LGD team fight win allowed Ame to put some distance between himself and Team Secret’s cores. He ended the game with an impressive 14 kills and zero deaths to help PSG.LGD take the opening win.
Ame cruises for PSG.LGD to set up TI10 finals berth
Game two flipped that dynamic with Team Secret putting MATUMBAMAN on Ursa and Michał “Nisha” Jankowski on Gyrocopter while Ame was put on Monkey King. The thing that didn’t flip was PSG.LGD’s strong teamwork and positioning.
After an epic high-five exchange, Team Secret did a brilliant job of getting Roshan kills and fighting around Aegis of the Immortal whenever possible. PSG.LGD still found opportunities to take objectives and minimize the damage done by Team Secret. This forced Secret into being overly aggressive, forcing mistakes that PSG.LGD could exploit.
This was especially the case as Secret attempted to broach PSG.LGD’s high ground. Though Secret was able to siege down one lane over time, direct attacks to the tier-threes were repelled. This eventually led to the team fight wins that cost Team Secret the game, as well as the series.
PSG.LGD waits to face Invictus Gaming, Team Spirit, or Team Secret
The victory over Team Secret gave PSG.LGD the chance to sit back and watch the final two matches of the TI10 lower bracket ahead of the finals. Three other teams are still alive in Invictus Gaming, Team Spirit, and Team Secret.
Invictus Gaming and Team Spirit were set to face off in the fifth round of the lower bracket. The winner will face Team Secret in the lower bracket finals, while the loser will take home the fourth-place prize worth $2,401,100.
Regardless of who makes it to the finals, PSG.LGD will likely open as an enormous favorite. WIth how strong the team has looked, it’s hard to argue with that billing.
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