A Dawnbreaker debut in TI Playoffs, a chaotic Roshan contest, and 10-hero buybacks in a single fight. Here is what happened in the PSG.LGD vs T1 series of the day.
It is Day 2 of The International 10 Main Event and once again, the starting match did not disappoint! The day started off with a highly anticipated series between the Group stage monsters, PSG.LGD and T1. In this series, we witnessed PSG.LGD living up to its dominant reputation. But we also had the honor of seeing Dawnbreaker debuting in TI Playoffs, a chaotic Roshan contest and a 10-hero buyback in a single fight. Here is what happened in the PSG.LGD vs T1 series of the day.
PSG.LGD shuts down T1 in the first match
The early game for T1 seemed bright with the supports’ rotations. Karl’s Lina couldn’t fight against NothingToSay’s Dragon Knight in the midlane, however, with the help of the supports, he managed to secure an early triple kill. Still, LGD remained on a net worth lead. The entire game heavily leaned towards LGD and T1’s cores struggled to come online. Ultimately, PSG.LGD walked up to the opponent’s high ground and without a solid defense, T1 surrendered from the first game.
First Dawnbreaker of the Playoffs ignites a spark of hope
T1 revealed a Dawnbreaker position 4 in the second match, a first in the Main Event of TI10 and PSG.LGD maintained a similar draft from the first game. A seemingly neck-to-neck laning phase then led to both teams engaging in constant teamfights. However, a hasty Echo Slam from LGD creaked open an opportunity for T1 to counter initiate. The net worth swung in favor of the SEA team.
10 Buybacks for One Lengthy Teamfight
In one drawn-out fight in the top lane, both T1 and PSG.LGD committed EVERYTHING; BKBs, spells, ultimates, and eventually buybacks. This marked the first time we have seen a full set of buybacks from all heroes in the game on TI10 stage.
The next big fight took place around Roshan. With Mortimer’s Kisses from XinQ, and constant Echo Stomps from y' to interrupt T1 from taking the Aegis, T1 flocked to end Roshan’s life. But a huge Echo Slam from Faith_bian landed onto the team and in the midst of the chaos, the Aegis dropped. A whole teamfight occurred in the Roshan pit and ultimately, 23 managed to pick up the Aegis. The fight turned around as LGD retreated for their lives.
T1 then marched onto LGD’s high ground, and a very scary 23 on his Medusa was melting their opponent’s forte. A beautiful catch from Kuku’s Magnus to Ame’s Terrorblade eased the final push for T1 and they even the PSG.LGD vs T1 series 1-1.
A merciless PSG.LGD sends T1 to the Lower Bracket
The Chinese powerhouse did not give any chances to T1 in the deciding match of the series. With NothingToSay’s Ember Spirit and a fervent IO-Ursa duo on their side, T1 struggled to gain any advantage. 23 struggled to farm on his Spectre and Kuku’s Venomancer remained passive throughout the whole game. PSG.LGD dominated the map and the net worth gaps bigger and bigger as time went by, reaching 28k net worth lead in 35 minutes. Due to such a disadvantage, T1 tapped out of the game.
Y’ talks about the 10 Buybacks
In a post-match interview, SirActionSlacks asked PSG.LGD's position 5, y', what the team's reaction was during the 10-buyback scenario. "We were really excited actually," y' said, "because at that moment we actually thought of it as a chance. We were already at quite a big disadvantage."
XinQ, the position four of PSG.LGD also gave his thoughts on what it took to win against T1. "We are sweating already, it has to be 10/10" he said.
The first series of the day concludes SEA’s best team dropping closer to elimination and the heavy favorites, PSG.LGD marches forward convincingly. LGD will face the winner of Virtus.Pro vs Vici Gaming, meanwhile, T1 will go head-to-head against Alliance in the Lower Bracket. You can refer to TI10 Playoffs bracket here.
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