After being locked down in their region for a year, PSG LGD finally got to showcase their performance on an international level. Their first opponent was none other than Team Spirit, the team who took away the coveted TI champion title from them in a narrow best of five. Now, the two teams will be facing off in a highly anticipated TI10 Grand Finals rematch at Riyadh Masters Saudi Arabia.
Even with their lack of international competitive experience in 2022, LGD showed no signs of deterioration and delivered a dominant performance for their first ever international LAN match of the year. With this win, they sent a message to the world that they are back and that they are not to be trifled with.
LGD brewed up a storm that swept Team Spirit away mercilessly, ending two games in less than 30 minutes. In both games, LGD stood firm in choosing Lone Druid for Ame and Razor for Faith_bian. They performed outstandingly, having the highest net worth in both games.
Team Spirit never had any winning chance in any of their games with the advantage biasedly skewing towards LGD’s favor.
Riyadh Masters is LGD’s first international LAN tournament since TI10. Prior to this, they were only able to compete against other teams from their region. They were successful in the first two tours of Chinese DPC, ranking first in both leagues.
LGD did not perform too well on the third tour of Chinese DPC. Despite of that, they were still able to place fourth, cutting it close in securing a spot at Arlington Major. Some could argue that LGD chose to not go all out in their recent DPC matches because they have already guaranteed their slot for TI11 with total DPC points of 1500. However, more exposure to international tournaments could only benefit LGD.
Meanwhile, the TI10 champions still have some work cut out for them. Team Spirit started strong in the first tour of CIS DPC with a strong first place finish. However, they fell off slightly every season after, placing second in tour 2 and third in tour 3.
Moreover, Team Spirit failed to show any noteworthy performance at Stockholm Major. Even though they were able to participate in the playoffs, they immediately fell off from the upper bracket to Tundra Esports and then eliminated by Beastcoast. Both games Team Spirit went 0-2.
Team Spirit currently stands at a grand total of 990 DPC points. Unlike LGD, Team Spirit will have to do well at Arlington Major in order to guarantee their slot at TI11. With the current 1296 points threshold, Team Spirit would need at least a 7th-8th place finish at the playoffs to even score any additional points.
