LOUD brings the noise to MSI 2023 after they sent home DetonatioN FocusMe.
Day four of the Mid-Season Invitational has concluded with LOUD, who secure their spot into the next round of the lower bracket of the play-in stage having defeated DetonatioN FocusMe. The 2-0 series also sees LLL get revenge against DFM, who sent them home at last year's Worlds. LLL will now face PSG Talon in the second round of the lower bracket.
Game one started fairly evenly between both teams but from early on, LLL looked to establish dominance in its comp through full-on teamfights. Their ability to engage and start the fights was part of the reason why LLL were so successful in taking down DFM in game one. Moon "Route" Geom-su was particularly influential in the first game, getting five kills and assists to go with a sole death.
In the second game, Moon "Steal" Geon Yeong would yet again get the first blood for DFM. But unlike game one, LLL could not respond with kills of their own in the early game. Even Yuta "Yutapon" Sugiura got in on the action with an inch-perfect Jinx ulti from across the map. But DFM's overconfidence would soon become their downfall as one overextension saw them give away three kills for free.
Thus swung the pendulum of momentum back towards LLL, who would soon slowly take over the gold lead. While DFM did perform much better in the second game than they did in the first, it still wasn't enough to stand against the firepower that LLL had. The battle of attrition in big teamfights was one of the reasons DFM could not sustain itself with LL being able to outlast them on multiple occasions.
Thiago "TinOwns" Sartori also deserves his flowers for a flawless game two performance on Cassiopeia, which was her first-ever appearance at MSI. Leonardo "Robo" Souza also deserves his plaudits for both of his games on Gnar. All in all, LLL put up a performance that many will remember, especially since the CBLoL champs got their revenge on DFM. LLL's win also puts both the LLA as well as the CBLoL regions into the next round.
