PSG.LGD vs Team Aster: Favourites to join the fray

The first DPC league of the 2021/22 season in China kicks off on Monday, January 03. The second match of the day for the elite division will see one of the favourites, PSG.LGD and Team Aster meet.

DPC CN 2021/22 Tour 1: Division I is an online Dota 2 tournament 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.

Team Aster are one of China’s youngest teams, formed in late 2018 and already top of their region. Last season was a mixed bag for the boys. If you judge their results within the Chinese region, they are very cool: vice-champions of the first DPC league, champions of the second DPC league, champions of two seasons of i-League 2021. Not even PSG.LGD can boast such results in China, but on the international scene, Aster played just awful: only 9-12 places in the two majors in Singapore and Kyiv, an unsatisfactory result at TI10 as well - 13-16 place. You can look for excuses, they did not perform in the full squad in Singapore, and at TI10, the whole team suffered from coronavirus, but the fact is that no one makes concessions to the top Chinese team.

Something had to be done, and the organisation’s bosses made two substitutions in the squad: Ori transferred from Vici Gaming will play at position 2, and Siamese.C who spent the last season in the Aster.Aries youth team will take position 5. And if the first substitution is a reinforcement, the second is ambiguous. Although the five is not the most key position, it’s too bad that the young player was quite good during last season. The guys must not rest all the time, for the international results are weak for a long rest, and the new squad needs to get used to it.

Team Aster, once again, must go to the top of their region, and this match is a great opportunity to show everyone their worth.

Bookmakers don’t believe in Team Aster’s capabilities for a good reason. I’m not sure that PSG.LGD will play their first game after a long break without error. Therefore Handicap 2 (+1.5) on maps for 1.80 is a smart bet.

The game should have three maps, so Total Over 2.5 maps for 2.23 is also a good option.

Victory should still go to PSG.LGD and the correct score 2-1 comes at a very tasty 3.25.