PSG.LGD vs Phoenix Gaming: Phoenix is weak against TI10 vice-champions

The first DPC league of the 2021/22 season in China will continue on Tuesday, January 04. PSG.LGD and Phoenix Gaming will meet in the elite division’s second match of the day.

DPC CN 2021/22 Tour 1: Division I is an online Dota 2 tournament that will take place from January 03 to 21, 2022. The top eight teams from the China region will be competing for $205,000. On top of the cash prizes, the teams will also fight for four entries to the majors and the crucial DPC points needed to qualify for T11.

We haven’t seen PSG.LGD since the TI10 Grand Final, the Chinese team, sensationally lost to Russian team Team Spirit (2-3). It’s hard to imagine what these star guys went through after the upsetting defeat. It’s hard to imagine what’s going on inside the team now that the match-fixing scandal under the auspices of their mentor xiao8 has not yet subsided. An internal investigation by the organisation is underway, and, indeed, have the players themselves been preparing for the new season? I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the main favourite, PSG.LGD spends the winter league at half its real strength, especially before the Chinese New Year.

The line-up is unchanged. All the same stars on the server, but a big question is whether mentor xiao8 will be allowed in. No matter how PSG.LGD plays. They should end up in the majors. Their opening round is against the ultra-matched Aster, who has always been renowned for their play and preparation on the domestic stage.

Twenty-four hours after that battle, they play against the revamped Phoenix Gaming, who were weak opponents for the Chinese favourite even in the last gathering. Although PSG.LGD will have to play for the second day in a row. The second opponent must be beaten by the favorite even with their eyes closed.

The Phoenix Gaming team is one of those squads that are a springboard for developing new Chinese players. Last season, the former Phoenix Gaming squad showed so much promise that they almost ended up in EHOME, but before, they left to play their former team in China’s elite, which is already an unreal cool achievement.

Phoenix Gaming begins the new season, although in the elite, with a completely revamped roster:

M77 is a little-known carry who hasn’t been out of Tier-4 Chinese Dota since 2014, but here’s a chance for him to prove himself right away in the Chinese elite.

zone is a complete novice destined to play in the second position. It’s hard to say yet what the not-so-young Chinese Doter is about.

Shining is a three who previously played together with the M77 carry on the same team as We Are Young, where they even participated in the same Tier-1 tournament called World Cyber Arena 2016, but that was so long ago that it seems as if it’s not true.

Yp is a supporter who hasn’t been seen on the professional Dota horizon for over three years. What the previously little-known player is like is also hard to say.

Lww is a five, which, unlike its new teammates, flashed on the professional stage, playing for teams Aster.Aries and Team Sirius, but it was all in 2020. All this year, this supporter never played anywhere.

On paper, the squad is extremely weak for China’s elite. It’s not certain that the guys would have been able to snag a good spot in the second division in that region. But Phoenix Gaming had to recruit at least some players not to lose their historic slot, although for me, they are the first contenders for relegation.

On the first map, we see Total Under 44.5 frags for 1.85.

The second map will be less than 31.30 minutes; the odds are 1.90.