The long-awaited Lima Major 2023 begins in Peru. As part of the first major tournament of the season, 18 teams from 6 competitive regions will play for the right to be called the DPC Winter Champion, $500,000 and 1,900 DPC points.
The group stage of the tournament will open the South American DotA holiday. In the first round of groups, we will see a confrontation between 16 teams, and PSG.LGD with Evil Geniuses is on this list.
PSG.LGD will play in Lima as the best team in China. The team finished the DPC tour on the first line of their region.
Evil Geniuses will play as the second team in South America. Moving to a new region can be considered successful, because the goal is at least fulfilled - EG in the Major.
Let's find out if one of the teams will be able to earn the first victory in the bo2 match and start group A with an important victory.
Form PSG.LGD
Let's start the review with PSG.LGD. The team will approach its first match at Lima Major 2023 as a favorite.
However, the favorite in bo2 - the status is rather shaky. Nevertheless, PSG.LGD deserved it.
The team finished first in the China region. Although the Celestial Empire is no longer as monumental as it was conditionally 2 years ago, and judging by the latest results in the international arena, the level of teams has dipped there, it is still a harsh place with high competitiveness of residents. The victory in China is an argument in favor of the viability of PSG.LGD.
PSG.LGD roster
Even more confidence in the success of PSG.LGD can add the factor of the team's recent reshuffle. The autumn transfer period has notably battered the title team.
PSG.LGD roster
- shiro
- NothingToSay
- 项羽
- planet
- y`
After the TOP-6 at The International 2022, 3 headliners left the team at once. The departure of Ame, Faith_bian and XinQ was taken seriously, while the replacement of top players by EHOME and CDEC did not look like something serious. Nevertheless, xiao8, who remained on the post of coach, managed to outline the vector of development and PSG.LGD opened up to the full during the first round of the DPC.
Performance of PSG.LGD
Since the team made it to Lima from first place at DPC 2023: CN - Upper Division, it makes sense to remember their path as part of the home scene. You can't call it straightforward, as PSG.LGD encountered problems during the race.
PSG.LGD finished DPC 2023: CN - Upper Division with a 6-1 record. The only losses were against the Knights on the second week of the tour.
It should be noted that the xiao8 team reached the first place through replays. Having beaten Aster in the final regulated match, PSG.LGD leveled up with another Chinese giant in terms of statistics, which sent the teams to replays.
In the decisive match, PSG.LGD were relentless: the team closed Aster with a score of 2-0 without much chance, having beaten their counterparts in 25 and 35 minutes, respectively. This is an important moment that speaks to the attitude of PSG.LGD and their ability to adapt and grow as the tournament progresses.
Heroes PSG.LGD
PSG.LGD valued Primal Beast (6 games, 66% win rate), Tiny (6 matches, 50% win rate), Leshrac (6 matches, 50% win rate), Enigma (5 matches, 60% win rate). They love Alchemist, bringing him into the meta: 2 games, 100% win rate.
Evil Geniuses Form
On the other side of the barricades will be Evil Geniuses. With a high degree of probability, we will see them in the status of an outsider with an absolutely meager lag, if any.
However, the gap between the teams is clearly not going to be huge. All the same, bo2 makes its own adjustments, and EG is not bad at all.
If PSG.LGD had large-scale permutations, then Evil Geniuses had fundamental ones. The club did not just change players, it moved to another region, and it seems that they did the right thing: North American DotA is stagnating and staying there is such an option.
Remembering the past The International, it becomes clear that now South America is much more promising than its neighbor. What can we say if this major will be home for the residents of the region, and EG is one of them.
Lineup EG
Back to the monumental permutations. EG kicked out all the players from the previous roster, who took TOP-9-12 at The International and signed a fighting roster from South America.
Evil Geniuses players
- Pakazs
- Chris Luck
- Wisper
- Matthew
- pandaboo
The updated composition of the “evil geniuses” included the best representatives of the region at the start of the new season. The backbone was made up of Pakazs, Matthew and Pandaboo, who played for Thunder Awaken last year and reached the TOP-8 at TI 22, and beastcoast stars Chris Luck and Wisper, who climbed into the TOP-6 at The International, were added to them.
This combination has inspired confidence since the announcement. She fully justified it, showing a good game as part of the home stage at DPC 2023: SA - Upper Division.
Evil Geniuses Performance
EG made it to the Lima Major from second place at DPC 2023: SA - Upper Division. Above them were only beastcoast, which is quite logical.
EG played the regular season with a 6-1 record. The only defeat happened in the 3rd week match against beastcoast.
That game was not easy for bc. The fight lasted 2 maps, but the first was delayed by 42 minutes, and the second by 60.
Heroes Evil Geniuses
Everything in the pool for EG is pretty standard, according to the canons of patch 7.32. However, there are some idiosyncratic choices.
The most picked character is Rubick. Appeared 11 times and won 9 matches.
Monkey King (8 games, 87% wins), Mars (8 matches, 62% wins), Timbersaw (7 games, 100% wins), Silincer (7 matches, 100% wins) are popular.
History of personal confrontations
Before Lima Major 2023, the teams did not play each other. This fight will be the debut match of the teams in the updated lineups.
Match outcome
This match of the first round can safely be called the central match of the round. Both teams will fight for a place in the TOP-4 of the group and directly compete on the way to this goal.
I see a handicap of +1.5 as the most optimal outcome. on EG. Making allowances for the format and the fact that this is the opening match, I think we won’t see a clear victory here, and if this happens, it’s more likely towards EG: the home major will play a significant role this season.
Result: +1.5. on EG.
