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PSG Talon is one step closer to qualifying for the next round.
Day one of the Mid-Season International saw PSG Talon sweep DetonatioN FocusMe in the first round of the play-in stage. That win now puts PSG Talon in the second round where they are just one more series win away from securing a spot in the playoffs. As for DFM, they will head down to the lower bracket, where they will have to potentially play two more games to qualify.
PSG Talon will be waiting on the winners between G2 Esports and LOUD, which will be happening tomorrow. But as for now, they can rest easy knowing they will still have a chance in qualifying for the next round even if they were to drop to the lower bracket. However, that may not be the case as PSG Talon looked solid to kickstart the first day of MSI 2023.
PSG Talon
vs
DetonatioN FocusMe - Game 1
The first game of the series saw both teams start slow and passive until DFM attempted its first rift herald of the match, which PSG sought to fight over. However, it was Geon "Steal" Yeong Moon that got the first blood before PSG responded with three kills, two for Yu "Junjia" Chun-chia and one for Chen "ubao" Chang-Chu. PSG would soon add a further two kills to the board with ubao getting another and Zou "Wako" Wei-Yang getting his first. PSG also took out the mountain drake along with all three of DFM's outer turrets during that time.
And after taking out the second dragon, which was hextech, PSG soon started applying pressure to all three lanes, forcing DFM into deciding between counter-pushing or defending. PSG soon stepped too close to DFM, which gave Steal the opening to shut down Junjia. Yuta "Yutapon" Sugiura followed it up with another kill to send PSG back to their side of the map. With the numbers advantage, DFM took their chance to claim their first outer turret in the midlane.
At the 22-minute mark, both teams locked horns once again in the midlane with Lee "Harp" Ji-yoong landing a key hook to catch Lin "Woody" Hung-Yu out of position to begin the teamfight. All of DFM soon converged on Huang "Azhi" Shang-Zhi but could not burst him down in time. This gave the rest of PSG the chance to reset and jump DFM from all corners. And in a blink of an eye, PSG took four from DFM with Wako getting a double kill, leaving Steal as the last man standing.
From there, PSG soon headed straight to the baron pit and claimed it with no real contest. DFM soon tried to regain some control over the game by attempting the third drake. However, PSG was soon smelling blood in the water again with ubao claiming a quadra kill for his troubles while Azhi took the fifth. After taking out the midlane inhibitor turrets, PSG went to push into the top lane side of the base but was soon greeted by DFM.
A backside flank by Haruki "tol2" Shibata managed to catch Wako out of position, which allowed Yutapon to shut him down in an instant. But PSG managed to trade kills with Junjia getting a handful of kills with Azhi landing the other as well. With three dead on DFM, PSG saw a chance to do further structural damage while ubao managed to land yet another kill in the enemy base.
With their backs against the wall, DFM decided to contest PSG in the baron pit, something which didn't work out too well for them. A perfect initiation from Junjia saw PSG pounce on Yutapon in a flash before the rest of DFM collapsed against the onslaught. Both Wako and Azhi gained double kills in that engagement along with Junjia for the fifth and final kill to end game one.
PSG TalonvsDetonatioN FocusMe - Game 2
While the first game took just a little over half an hour to end, game two was a different story entirely. Both teams opted to keep just one champion from each draft as PSG chose Aphelios for Wako yet again while DFM picked Wukong for Steal once more. And it was DFM who once again struck first, this time with Yutapon who managed to take out Woody. A few minutes later, DFM's four-man rotation into PSG's jungle saw them catch out Woody yet again, this time with Lee "Aria" Ga-eul getting the kill. Steal would also manage to take out Azhi a little bit later, which began DFM's slow takeover of the game.
A four-versus-four soon broke out for the second drake, which DFM managed to steal thanks to Yutapon. He then takes out Junjia before flashing onto to Wako for a quick double kill. However, on the other side of the river, both Steal and Aria got dropped by Woody and ubao respectively. And while DFM did have all the early game advantage, PSG still managed to keep themselves within touching distance through a small gold differential.
PSG was also able to claim the third drake while DFM opted for the rift herald for a greater advantage in pushing lanes. A fight soon broke out in front of PSG's outer midlane turret with three going down in an instant; tol2 walked away with a double kill to his name Yutapon landed yet another kill. DFM then claimed the first baron and marched on to take out PSG's inner bottom lane turret before moving on to destroy the midlane. While PSG did try to mount a defence, it was a feeble one at that with Azhi paying with his life to Aria.
DFM even managed to overcome a four-man gank that resulted in all five players collapsing onto PSG, which saw Wako and Woody fall once more. However, Junjia and Azhi were able to escape. This was DFM's opening to take their first inhibitor turret, setting their sights on the midlane with only ubao to defend it, who soon fell as well. And with this advantage, DFM went on to take their second baron of the game. PSG went to contest and with DFM knowing they would, decided to pincher PSG in the river.
However, Azhi managed to soak up all the initial damage and still stayed alive, which allowed Wako to jump in and catch DFM who initially tried to retreat. This gave ubao the opening to take out Steal and then shut down tol2 while Junjia also managed to shut down Aria. Even Wako got in on the action by taking out Harp. They soon claimed the baron and whispers of a comeback began.
The PCS's best and brightest soon started to get themselves back into the game, despite DFM's efforts in foiling their plans. A fight for the sixth drake soon broke out with tol2 dropping first. The fight soon resets back onto the drake, which Junjia managed to steal. This opened the floodgates for his teammates to pounce on DFM, which Wako did by taking out Aria first before he shut down Yutapon for a double kill. PSG then went for their second baron of the game. After two crucial teamfights, PSG managed to bring themselves within touching distance once again through a small gold deficit.
They even started to take out some of DFM's other turrets, despite still being down with DFM having taken almost double the amount at that time. PSG's push onto both DFM's bottom and middle lanes allowed them more space to play around the map while giving themselves more vision on DFM's side of the map. A fight for the chemtech drake then broke out on the 41st-minute mark with tol2 getting a great jump into two from PSG, which was the opening Yutapon needed to shut down Wako. He soon got a double kill by taking out Woody. Yutapon then got shut down by Azhi while Steal also managed to shut down Junjia. Azhi then grabbed himself a double kill by taking out tol2 while Aria took out ubao. With four out from PSG, Steal managed to finally take out Azhi in what was a long battle of attrition between both teams.
Having gone behind yet again, PSG opted for a risky baron attempt under DFM's noses. With only Aria in the vicinity, he could only watch and wait until PSG were done before being able to take out one of the three retreating PSG champions with Woody being the one to fall. With the core support down, PSG was at a numbers disadvantage and DFM was charging towards their base. After taking out the midlane inhibitor, DFM went to fight against PSG, knowing they got an additional man. But despite that advantage, they wound up trading jungler for jungler with no other objective taken.
DFM soon managed to catch Woody off-guard once more but his death was not in vain as Wako managed to take out tol2 in return. Yet another one-for-one trade with DFM not taking other objectives. DFM would then retreat, knowing the momentum of the push has ended. And after a long stalemate around one another, both teams collapsed onto one another in the midlane with Yutapon taking out ubao first before tol2 fell to Wako. And with the elder drake finally up, PSG decided to head straight for the pit, knowing they can burst it down in time.
Even with a four-versus-four, DFM could not overpower PSG, who despite missing their midlaner, had more than enough firepower to take down two from DFM with Yutapon and Steal getting killed. With the elder drake buff along with a five-to-three advantage on DFM, PSG knew it was now or never to end the game. And try as they might, DFM could not defend against the final push to end the game at just over 50 minutes.
Be sure to catch all the action of the Mid-Season Invitational 2023 on the official Riot Games Twitch channel.
