PSG.LGD defeat RNG 3-1 to win DPC China Regional Finals
Chinese juggernauts PSG.LGD have been crowned as the champions of the 2021-2022 Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) Winter Tour Regional Finals for China, after they capped off a spirited run through the tournament with a 3-1 victory over Royal Never Give Up (RNG) in the grand finals.
As the top team in the Winter regional league for China, PSG.LGD were heavy favorites to take the Regional championship.
They began their campaign with a 2-1 victory over EHOME before sweeping RNG in their first encounter at the upper bracket finals.
RNG then swept Team Aster in the lower bracket finals to force a rematch with PSG.LGD in the grand finals. It was yet another reunion for the PSG.LGD squad from The International 2018, with PSG.LGD's Wang "Ame" Chunyu taking on his old teammates Lu "Somnus丶M" Yao, Yang "Chalice" Shenyi, and Yap "xNova" Jian Wei on RNG.
While RNG put on a valiant performance, it was not enough as PSG.LGD took the grand finals in a 3-1 gentleman's sweep. Here's a breakdown of the grand finals:
XinQ delays game two for PSG.LGD to make a comeback
RNG started the series strong and blindsided PSG.LGD in a 32-minute game one. In the pivotal game two, both teams drafted farm-heavy cores who scale well into the late game.
It was Ame on Terrorblade against Zhong "圣子华炼" Liushuai (also known as GodKing) on Phantom Assassin.
The midlane saw Malaysian star Cheng "NothingToSay" Jin Xiang on Razor face off against Lu "Somnus丶M" Yao on Outworld Devourer.
It was a dead-even game after the laning stage. While RNG did have strong tower push for the early game, they couldn’t take objectives down as quickly as they liked due to the presence of Zhao "XinQ" Zixing on Treant Protector.
XinQ was able to push out lanes and heal towers to slow down RNG. While he couldn’t stop pushes completely, he was able to delay them long enough to hinder RNG’s plans.
XinQ also played an amazing game of baiting RNG to chase him around the map, further stalling their power spikes.
During a team fight at the 21-minute mark, XinQ started the fight with a good Overgrowth, and then used his life to bait Somnus to stay in the fight. This resulted in a two-for-nothing trade in favor of PSG.LGD, including getting the Aegis out of the hands of RNG.
Both teams took turns trading advantages between each other. PSG.LGD managed to bring down Roshan and take the mid-lane of barracks 30 minutes into the game, but they stayed behind too long and got punished hard by RNG and lost Ame in the process.
RNG wanted to ride their momentum and push while Ame was down. But despite being in a four-versus-five situation, PSG.LGD were able to win the fight thanks to an amazing combination of Overgrowth and Macropyre, which immobilized GodKing and burned him to death without buyback.
With no one left to defend on the side of RNG, PSG.LGD simply marched into their base to take the 36 minute victory and tie up the series.
Game two ended up being the longest game of the series, but PSG.LGD seemingly took it without breaking a sweat.
NothingToSay reminds everyone that he is a 12k MMR midlaner
Game two saw an interesting change of strategy for both teams.
PSG.LGD went with the “big-circle” heroes: Faceless Void for Ame and Tidehunter for Zhang "Faith_bian" Ruida, with NothingToSay on Ember Spirit to add a fire circle for good measure.
RNG had different ideas and focused on high mobility cores to try and avoid the big ultimates from PSG.LGD. This included GodKing on Phantom Assassin and Somnus on Void Spirit.
The biggest advantage for PSG.LGD wasn’t their draft, but how well they shut down Somnus in game three.
Realizing that he was the only one who can make space in the game, PSG.LGD focused on rotating heroes to the mid-lane early and were rewarded with first blood for NothingToSay.
During game three, the casters Benjamin "Bkop" Kopilow and Dominik "Lacoste" Stipić talked about how much RNG relied on Somnus to perform well for the team to win.
It was obvious that PSG.LGD echoed that sentiment as well, as Somnus was unable to do anything while NothingToSay had 12 kills to his name and the highest damage.
The pivotal fight of the game happened at the 27-minute mark, when NothingToSay and his support duo took on the four members of RNG (Chalice was picked off earlier).
While it looked like a close fight that RNG could win, Faith_bian crushed those hopes with two big Ravages to seal the fight and the game for PSG.LGD.
NothingToSay led the way for PSG.LGD in game three with 12 kills and 11 assists against three deaths, while both Ame and Faith_bian each had nine kills of their own.
Ame leads PSG.LGD to victory in game four
Game four saw PSG.LGD stick to the Tidehunter for Faith_bian, his second-most played hero this patch with nine wins and only one loss.
To add more teamfight to the draft, NothingToSay played Puck mid while Zhang "y`" Yiping brought the firepower with Snapfire.
RNG went for a pickoff draft, with great burst damage from all their heroes.
Somnus on the mid Lina and xNova on Lion could theoretically bring down anyone with their ultimates, while Chalice and Chong “FelixCiaoBa” Wei Lun would tank for the team with the Mars and Tusk respectively.
It was a good draft from RNG, but it was clear that PSG.LGD was in the zone and couldn’t be taken down in that game.
Coming from the lower brackets, RNG had already played six games in a row and fatigue was showing. GodKing was caught multiple times on Morphling with full Agility, making him susceptible to being killed.
Even with the signs, the series ended quite abruptly.
While PSG.LGD did have a solid net worth advantage 27 minutes in the game, it wasn’t a big lead and RNG might have been able to stall the push.
However, Ame had gotten too strong to be controlled, and he turned a pickoff on former teammate xNova into a four-for-nothing fight for PSG.LGD, sealing their victory at the Regional Finals.
Ame ended the game with a clean 11 kills and 11 assists, securing the most kills in the game without being brought down once. He has regularly been called the best Dota 2 player in the world, and he proved it again in game four.
With their victory, PSG.LGD take home USD$50,000 along with 250 DPC points, while RNG settle for US$25,000 and 130 DPC points for finishing in second place.
As the champions of both the Chinese regional league and Regional Finals, PSG.LGD are now tied with The International 10 champions Team Spirit for the top spot in the overall DPC point leaderboard with 550 points.
The Winter Tour Regional Finals will take place across the weekends of 11 to 13 February and 18 to 20 February, with three regions competing in each weekend. It will feature the Top 4 teams of the DPC's six regions competing for their cut of a US$100,000 prize pool and all-important DPC points.
For everything you need to know about the Winter Tour Regional Finals, check here.
PSG.LGD roster:
Wang "Ame" Chunyu
Cheng "NothingToSay" Jin Xiang
Zhang "Faith_bian" Ruida
Zhao "XinQ" Zixing
Zhang "y`" Yiping
Royal Never Give Up roster:
Zhong "圣子华炼" Liushuai
Lu "Somnus丶M" Yao
Yang "Chalice" Shenyi
Chong “FelixCiaoBa” Wei Lun
Yap "xNova" Jian Wei
Otomo is a long-time gaming enthusiast and caster. He has been playing games since he was 10 and is the biggest Dota 2 fan.
For more esports news updates, visit https://yhoo.it/YahooEsportsSEA and check out Yahoo Esports Southeast Asia’s Facebook page and Twitter, as well as our Gaming channel on YouTube.
