After a rougher than expected start to their TI run, LGD turned it around with an absolute stomping of another tournament favorite, OG.
This TI two teams find themselves in very different situations. On one hand, at the top of their group, OG with a score of 2-0-1. On the other hand, PSG.LGD near the bottom with a score of 0-2-1. OG is placed right where many expected them to be with their performance so far this year. On the other side LGD, who many expected to be a tournament favorite, is having a considerably rougher time. This was sure to be a blockbuster match between the old blood, and the new talent.
LGD show no mercy to OG in game one
The game one draft started out with some meta picks for LGD. They went with a Shadow Fiend for Wang "Ame" Chunyu and Undying for Zhang "y`" Yiping, heroes who have both seen a lot of play. OG, in classic fashion, picked up a weird hero in the Pugna for Mikhail "Misha" Agatov. OG went for a typical meta carry for Artem "Yuragi" Golubiev in the Faceless Void. LGD's lineup looked to get in your face and destroy the lanes, while OG had a strong late game.
LGD started off great with Zhao "XinQ" Zixing and Ame able to get the early first blood onto Yuragi. The oppressive power of the Zhang "Faith_bian" Ruida Venomancer also got an early kill onto the Ammar "ATF" Al-Assaf Razor. The top lane continued to be a bloodbath. The snowballing from LGD picked up with a 2k gold lead before the 10 minute mark. But OG were able to fight back with a chaotic fight in the bottom lane that netted three kills.
Despite OG fighting back, LGD powered up to a 6k lead at 12 minutes, picking off enemies as they went with the Cheng "NothingToSay" Jin Xiang Pangolier. They transferred that aggression into a 13 minute Roshan. It was clear that the Faith_bian Venomancer was keeping OG on their heals and disrupting teamfights. his trendsetting play along with great stuns from XinQ beat down OG heavily all before 20 minutes. The damage from Ame and the teamfight of LGD just utterly annihilated OG in this game one.
In game two, OG decided to change things up again with a not often seen Oracle pick. LGD went for the tried and true Primal Beast, which has been seeing a lot of play as both support and core. OG also decided to go for a comfort pick in the Bozhidar "bzm" Bogdanov Invoker. They also picked up a more meta pick with Shadow Fiend. LGD then decided to round out their draft with a carry Nature's Prophet, which has not been seeing as much play as other carries.
This time is was OG who picked up the first blood, with a sunstrike from bzm. Despite this, the game was relatively even for the first couple of minutes with very few kills back and forth. However, LGD just started to roll over OG with a 4k gold lead at ten minutes, getting pick off after pick off.
LGD were again able to get a quick Aegis and shoot their lead up to a 12k lead before 20 minutes. the kills just kept pilling up as LGD went form hero to hero dismantling any move that OG tried to make. Despite some pick offs by OG, the teamfight and control form LGD just completely separated OG from each other, and systematically dismantled each hero. After about 30 minutes, and a 30k gold lead, OG tapped out.
This win puts LGD at a 1-2-1 score, moving them closer to the upper bracket. OG's score of 2-0-2 now puts them in a more precarious position for the rest of the group stage. This is a much needed win for LGD, both for morale, and their position. For more games from the group stage here at the International, stick with us at esports.gg!