PSG Talon's substitutes advance the team to main Worlds event

William Davis Published 27/09/2020

PSG Talon advances to the 2020 League of Legends World Championship main event after topping its play-in group with a win against Unicorns of Love in the tiebreaker.

It has been an unexpected journey for PSG Talon, who entered the tournament with three substitutes due to travel restrictions and visa issues. The fact that PSG Talon could not play with its main line-up for the play-in stage, resulted in lowered expectations from fans and experts.

Without anything to lose, PSG Talon started out the tournament with a dominant performance against Rainbow7. This was the start of an impressive run.

PSG Talon substitutes exceeded all expectations

PSG Talon had to borrow jungler Hsiao “Kongyue” Jen-Tso and mid laner Chen “Uniboy” Chang-Chu from ahq eSports Club, while Machi Esports coach Chen “Dee” Chun-Dee had to be fielded for the bot lane position.

Having this many new players usually means that a team will struggle with communication and coordination, especially in team fights. But this has not been the case for PSG Talon.

Kongyue and Uniboy came out swinging right away with some impressive individual performances. There was never any doubt that the two players are talented, but their performance has been impressive taking the circumstances into consideration.

Kongyue started out with the performance of a lifetime on Ekko, getting 13 kills against Rainbow7. The great performance seemed to light a fire of confidence within him that carried on to the next games.

PSG Talon’s bot lane has also managed to impress, despite playing Dee who has was previously not playing at this level. Dee managed to go toe-to-toe with the LGD and Rainbow7 bot lanes, assisted by Ling “Kaiwing” Wing, a rock for the team throughout the play-in stage.

The coordination has been on point for PSG Talon

The team fighting coordination from PSG Talon has been just as impressive as the individual performances. PSG Talon had limited time to practice with its new substitutes, but still managed to outplay one team after the other.

Even LGD stood no chance against PSG Talon in the team fights. PSG Talon played an even early and mid-game against the Chinese favorites but managed to get far ahead through team fights. Their fight at Baron was especially a prime example of the team’s coordination and ability to play off each other’s strengths.

PSG Talon also showcased some great teamwork in the deciding tiebreaker match against UoL, which ultimately granted them the win and a direct spot at the main event. UoL had control throughout most of the game, but PSG Talon made the perfect comeback as soon as they hit the correct power spikes.

Once again, Kongyue and Uniboy were the facilitators of the fight, carrying their new teammates to the most important victory of the year.

PSG Talon can now look forward to the Worlds group stage, where they will be up against some of the strongest teams in the world. Kongyue and Uniboy are not expected to play since Kim “River” Dong-woo and Park “Tank” Dan-won will be out of quarantine and ready to play.

PSG Talon will most likely enter its group as the big underdog, but the team has proven that they should not be underestimated. Even with subs.

William Davis

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