A support Techies guides PSG.LGD to a 14 minute victory against Team Aster

If you were watching PSG.LGD play the OGA Dota PIT Season 5: China, you might think its a pub game. Not because of the skill, every player is probably ten times better than you. But PSG.LGD’s drafts have been extraordinary so far. From Position 1 Pudge to Techies picks, the players are definitely having some fun before the new patch.

Valve announced the new patch will go live after the current battle pass comes to an end on August 16. The OGA Dota PIT Season 5 features eight of the best Dota 2 teams from China competing for a $150,000 prize pool. The event is down to its last few matches. PSG.LGD, Team Elephant and Invictus Gaming are the final three teams in what is their last tournament before the new patch.

PSG.LGD was using Zhang "xiao8" Ning as a stand-in for Cheng "NothingToSay" Jin Xiang. While Xiao8 is a legend in himself, he does not have the practice and probably not the reaction-time of playing in the modern Dota 2 era. He was playing mid on Pangolier and needless to say White Album was bullying the PSG.LGD coach. 

The early game was dominated by Aster's White Album’s. Playing against Xiao 8's Pango, White Album dominated the lanestarting off with a solo first blood kill. After a very strong laning phase, he had some efficient rotations to the top lane, sowing death wherever he went. But as we transitioned into the mid-game, Wang "Ame" Chunyu was allowed to farm freely while his team danced around Aster. 

As soon as Templar Assassin (TA) joined the teamfights, PSG.LGD pulled ahead and how!!. They killed off core after core on Team Aster, using their Crowd control ultimates to control their opponents. With a Dragon Lance and Desolator, there was nothing stopping TA from dealing huge amounts of damage.

After that, as is visible in the graph above, it was all downhill for Team Aster. PSG.LGD built on its lead, securing objectives and slowly but surely controlling the map. PSG.LGD took the lead in the elimination match and was just one game away from a lower bracket finals appearance.

There’s no Position 1 pudge that PSG.LGD has made popular in this tournament. Teams are actually banning the hero, instead of trying to counter the off-meta pick. 

Aster banned Pudge in both the games, but PSG.LGD had different ideas for Game 2. Zhao "XinQ" Zixing picked Techies, a hero that is known for some tower damage, but more for the fear it instills in enemies. 

Why pick Techies you ask? One way for Team Aster to counter Tidehunter was for Razor to steal his damage through Static Link. With Techies’ Suicide, PSG.LGD was able to silence the Static link and Tide got enough levels and farm in lane. Xinq would also stack Ancients for his mid Templar Assassin. In effect, the support Techies pick was enabling two cores in two different lanes just because of one skill. 

Aster tried a four-man smoke gank at the 14 minute mark. Walking high ground against a Templar Assassin and a Treant Protector was always a bad idea. PSG.LGD’s Tidehunter was also nearby and scored a three-man ravage. The fight was just a synopsis of how bad things were going for Team Aster. Immediately after that, Xinq blew up Razor. Possibly frustrated by playing against Techies, Team Aster immediately called GG. 

At the very end, PSG.LGD had a 3k gold advantage against Team Aster. The score was 10-8 and Aster had lost just one tower. By no means was the game an insurmountable lead and Team Aster could have easily come back into the game. But the stress of playing cautiously against a Techies and the previous lost teamfight (going high ground into a Treant Protector) was just too much for Aster's players. Regardless, playing against Techies is always irritating, no matter how good a player you are. PSG.LGD players probably got a chuckle out of the early Team Aster GG.

What's next for PSG.LGD?

PSG.LGD has already secured a slot at TI10. With a new patch scheduled to drop in a few days, the players do not want to stress too much with strategy. One would assume PSG.LGD will go into top gear practising the new patch. With this victory, PSG.LGD will face the loser of Elephant and Invictus Gaming on August 15. 

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