Road to Bucharest — PSG.LGD
Yuriy SheremetWe have got to the last but not least significant episode of «Road to Bucharest». The main characters of the eighteenth series are PSG.LGD. The majority predicts that these are the winners of The International 10.
Let’s get to know more about the main favourite of the tournament, one of the most successful teams that has ever performed at championships of the TI series.
Team’s Portfolio
- Date of club's foundation: January 2010;
- Roster at The International 10: «Ame», «NothingToSay», «Faith_bian», «XinQ», «y`», «xiao8» (coach);
- Region: China;
- How they made it to The International: second place in the DPC rating
- Main achievements: third place at The International 2012, 5th-6th place at The International 2014, first place at i-League Season 3, Top-3 at The International 2015, fourth place at The International 2017, victory at EPICENTER XL, MDL Changhsha Major, second place at The International 2018, third place at The International 2019, first place at WePlay AniMajor.
Having placed the long history of PSG.LGD in several paragraphs, let’s get down to a more thorough examination of the team.
First Appearance
LGD’s first appearance in the competitive Dota dates back to 2010. This was pretty long ago, LGD introduced themselves to the world in the first version of Defense of The Ancient.
We are interested in LGD’s first iteration in Dota 2. It happened in 2012.
LGD debuted at Gigabyte Dota 2 Masters, winning it at once. The community understood very fast that the Chinese players were going to become strong opponents in Dota 2.
The peak of the first year in Dota 2 was a performance at The International 2013. The roster was made of «Sylar», «Xiao8», «Yao», «DD» and «DDC». The team from the Heavenly Empire took third place losing to the champions from Invictus Gaming in the lower bracket.
The passion coming from The International 2012 LGD was used later. Till the end of the year the red won G-1 Champions League Season 4 and The Asia 2012. Later LGD qualified for G-League Season 2.
LGD Gaming became a serious threat and a contender to get to Top-1 in China.
In season 2013, LGD Gaming performed in the same roster. They managed to get to Top-4 at G-League Season 2, take second place at G-1 Champions League Season 5, finish third at Dota 2 Super League and win RedBull ECL 2013 Dota 2 Season.
Despite the successful performance in the season and getting to Top-3 at TI2, LGD Gaming did not get a direct invitation to The International 2013. They got it at the closed qualifiers.
The International 2013 did not go as smoothly as it was in the previous year. LGD Gaming finished 9th-12th which was the worst of the worst results in the club’s history at The International series.
Season 2015
2014 was pretty chilly for LGD Gaming. Yes, the team took Top-6 at The International, and another reason for happiness was victory at G-League 2014. But there was nothing more to celebrate.
«Xiao8», who had been symbolizing LGD for several years, raised Aegis over his head as a part of Newbee, and LGD still did not gain the right to be called a Top-1 team in China. They tried to get this prestigious status in 2015.
The first serious trial for the team was a home event called DAC 2015. This was where the team lost their opponents from IG and took 9th-12th place. They were unable to reach the status of the best.
Another proper leap happened in the middle of the year. The legendary «xiao8» returned to LGD and the roster refreshed: LGD Gaming signed a long-term agreement with a new star of the region «Maybe» who was going to become a leading esportsman in China several years later. The other slots were taken by «Sylar», «Yao» and «MMY!».
In May 2015 LGD won MarsTV Dota 2 League 2015 Spring – Chinese League and i-League Season 3. 2 months later LGD celebrated their victory at G-League 2015.
Finally, LGD Gaming got rewarded for their many years of gaming and got a direct invitation to The International. They fully justified it and took third place at TI5 3.
Season of majors
After TI5, LGD Gaming reconsidered their lineup and modified it in a way. The team planned to play the season of majors with the following roster: «Agressif», «Maybe», «xiao8», «September» and «MMY!».
The bet on a mixture of experience and youth was only half successful. That year’s best result was fourth place at The Manila Major 2016, but PSG.LGD repeated their worst result at the main event of the year – 9th-12th place.
Apparently, the roster was to be rebooted.
PSG.LGD’s establishment
Season 2017 turned out well for LGD Gaming. At TI7, the team took Top-4 but LGD seemed to deserve more. This was what happened in April 2018.
On 19 April 2018, the competitive Dota welcomed a well-known football brand – PSG. The Parisian club welcomed LGD Gaming under its wing.
The debut roster was made of «Ame», «Maybe», «Chalice», «Fy», «xNova». The renewed tag contributed to new results. In 2018, PSG.LGD became a real machine.
The team took second place at StarLadder i-League Invitational Season 4, it was followed by 9th-12th place at ESL One Katowice 2018. After Katowice, PSG.LGD could not find anyone equal to them.
Having taken second place at DAC 2018, PSG.LGD vanquished their opponents at EPICENTER XL and MDL Changsha Major. They were lacking two series to get the third title at China Dota2 Super Major.
PSG.LGD had to catch up at The International 2018 where they went easily after getting a direct invitation. That would have become their tournament if OG’s magic had not happened.
PSG.LGD looked like a team that was ready to win. This is what was seen in all series in the group stage and the playoff including the grand final.
Outscoring 2-1 and defeating OG on the third map, PSG.LGD lost the final 2-3. That was the best grand final since 2013 but still the worst in the history of PSG.LGD.
Taking it at their own charge, the players from PSG.LGD intended to make up for the loss in the next season.
Season 2019 was a bit weaker for PSG.LGD, perhaps due to OG’s work. PSG.LGD took fourth place at Chongqing Major, 5th-6th place at DreamLeague Season 1 and fourth place at MDL Paris Major. Before The International, PSG.LGD took 5th-6 th place at EPICENTER Major 2019.
At The International 2019, PSG.LGD again showed good gaming, but they were still far from their level in 2018. In the final of the upper bracket, the Chinese players again stumbled upon OG and again lost, but that time «Fy» and the team were not to get an revenge.
In tne final of the lower bracket PSG.LGD lost to Team Liquid and took third place.
New era for PSG.LGD
The loss at two TI events in a row brought down the players from PSG.LGD. «Maybe», «fy», «Chalice» and «xNova» left the team.
PSG.LGD spent several months of the pandemic standstill looking for an optimal roster. It was achieved only in September 2020.
The refreshed PSG.LGD was made of «Ame», «NothingToSay», «Faith_bian», «XinQ» and «y`», and the coach’s slot was occupied by the legendary «xiao8».
Right after that PSG.LGD broke loose. The team won China Dota2 Pro Cup Season 1, CDA-FDC Professional Championship and CDA-FDC Professional Championship Season 2. But the real success happened at the start of the new DPC season.
At the first season of the Chinese regular league PSG.LGD took fourth place at the upper division in the very nick of time. It let PSG.LGD play at the first post-COVID major where they took third place.
The second season went even better – second place in the region and an unappealable victory at WePlay AniMajor. Apparently, they had already provided themselves with a direct invitation to The International 10.
But PSG.LGD did not stop there and they also got two commercial tournaments to their pocket: OGA Dota PIT Season 5: China and OGA Dota PIT Invitational.
This is where we have to pause PSG.LGD’s history. The continuation of the saga will resume tomorrow.
This is not only the end of PSG.LGD’s history but also of the section «Road to Bucharest». We tried to cover the most important, as we think, period of the teams. It might look dry or vice versa. We will be pleased to hear your opinion about the texts on the comment section. Take care of your health and prepare for tomorrow. The big Dota is coming back, and we’ll try to take it in.
See you soon on EGamersWorld.
Yuriy Sheremet – Expert in mobile gaming and esports among shooters and MOBA games.
At EGamersWorld, Yuriy, as in 2020 when he joined the portal, works with content, albeit with adjustments to his area of responsibility.