PSG.LGD vs Talon Esports Prediction: Chinese grandmaster will start the majors with a solid win

One of the most important international Dota 2 tournaments with major status, the PGL Arlington Major 2022, will begin on Thursday, August 4, in the United States. PSG.LGD and Talon Esports will play in the first round of the group stage.

PGL Arlington Major 2022 is a major international cyber-sports tournament in Dota 2 with the status of the major. The tournament in the U.S. will be the second and final major event of the 2021/22 DPC cycle. The top 17 teams from around the world will compete for $500,000 and 4,570 DPC points from August 04-14.

There's not much to say about the strength of PSG.LGD. This Chinese team will be considered the top favorite in all tournaments where it decides to participate. Since TI10, we haven't seen Chinese teams at international lans, the whole region missed the first major in Sweden due to covid restrictions. Still, in July, the formidable Chinese got out and participated in the UAE tournament - Riyadh Masters 2022. The Arabian tournament was not so easy to play because all the top players except Asians had gathered there and raffled off 4 000 000 dollars in prize money. PSG.LGD players were the tournament champions, destroying Team Spirit (2:0) in the final.

This tournament on Arabian soil can be considered a preparatory tournament. First of all, this was the first time since TI10 that Chinese teams participated in an international match. Second, the PSG.LGD players had to be in top form before the main event; they had played the Summer Regional with their hands down, even refusing to play one of the re-match matches. They can afford it, they're in the majors too, and most importantly, they got a ticket to TI11 a long time ago.

In my opinion, PSG.LGD is now the most stable team in the world if they are motivated. It is worth realizing that the team xiao8 won the first and second DPC league in China and both regional finals Valve organized for the Chinese region instead of the majors. During the summer tour, the team allowed itself to relax because the main task was accomplished ahead of schedule. Even without going to the last match of the replay, the xiao8's team explained this by the fact that the team wants to focus on preparing for international starts, and here is one of them.

The composition of this team has been unchanged for many years, and the main intrigue in the upcoming summer international tournaments is how many times PSG.LGD will allow someone to beat themselves if anyone can do it now.

Talon Esports, an Asian project, is finally paying off. 23savage, top carry, got the team out of the second division and immediately got himself and his teammates the first-ever major and vice-champion title in the elite division of the Asian Regional DPC League. Moreover, the guys played a re-match with BOOM Esports for first place, plus they are the only ones to beat the champions in Asia.

But not the full Talon Esports lineup made it to the U.S. majors... With the visa, the fourth position Q failed, which led to a replacement. Xepher from T1 came to the rescue. Worth noting that this is the former teammate of main star 23savage. Before the major, Talon Esports played a closed qualification for another international tournament in August, ESL One Malaysia 2022. Yes, the guys got themselves a slot, thanks to the rejection of some team, due to which the Asian region was awarded a second gift slot for the main event, but the team's game leaves much to be desired. It's as if after the vice-championship in Asia, 23savage's "star" turned on again and became unbearable for his team, just like it was a year ago in T1. Major will show what kind of morale and readiness the Asian team is in now.

Talon Esports is a Hong Kong-based eSports organization that broke into the Dota 2 world in November 2021. It started out ambitious: the signing of Fly and Gabbi sounded formidable, but the star-studded lineup couldn't even make it out of the second division, which immediately forced the "stars" to leave this project. Not from the first time the team passed the open qualifications, in the first round, and even became the fifth in the lower leagues, but the organization did not immediately shut down the project. It just started to act differently, to form a different lineup, which gave the result.

The big move of the first position 23savage from T1 was an important aspect that helped the team take second place in the second division at the end of the second DPC league spring round and get a ticket to the elite, where the guys are going to show us their power if you can call it that. The roster after the spring and summer rounds has not changed. The team did not play anywhere else and systematically prepared for the American majors and qualifying for TI11.

On the first map, PSG.LGD will win with a handicap (-14.5) frags for 1.83.

Asians will get into fights, and this is a distinctive feature of their region so that you can catch the odds of 1.86 on Total Over 46.5 frags on the first map.

On the second map, PSG.LGD will win with a handicap (-13.5) frags for 1.60.