The 2023 League of Legends Mid Season Invitational offered its fans an exciting first match to watch. PSG Talon and DetonatioN FocusMe opened the dances of the competition in style, showcasing each player’s prowess in a roller-coaster match. Ultimately it was the PCS champions who won without the need to reach the third game of the first best-of-three match of the event.
The new MSI format was designed to give all teams more opportunities to showcase their strengths and weaknesses at the midway point of the season—and the opening match fulfilled that premise. The first game was dominated by PSG, who brought their domestic authority on the international stage with ease. Their proactive style dictated the rhythm of the game from the first fight around the objective thanks to their jungler Yu “JunJia” Chun-Chia.
Although it was not a “smooth” win, JunJia told Dot Esports that he is relieved PSG put their name next to the first win of the international tournament. With the hope to face off against LCK junglers, JunJia said he’s looking forward to winning more matches to move on to the next stage of this year’s MSI. It’s clear the challenges faced by PSG in the second game of their match against DFM didn’t faze JunJia, who took responsibility for the team’s limping start in what would then be the last game of the series.
The PSG jungler stated that not being able to produce any successful early game ganks is what put his team in a precarious position that almost cost them the win in the second game. But after almost fifty minutes on the Rift and several mistakes from DFM, PSG comes out on top in a crucial fight in front of the second elder drake of the game. With the team’s buff, the PCS champions moved to close the game and the match too.
Their next opponent will come from the EU as G2 Esports collected their first win of the tournament against LOUD a few hours after PSG’s victory. “I cannot wait to face junglers from EU and NA,” JunJia told us. “I’m curious about their playstyle and meta read.” But the meta will change as the competition progresses, and PSG will have to adapt their playstyle to better match their opponents. Despite knowing this, JunJia is not worried about what he will have to bring out on the Rift as long as he plays what his team needs.
PSG Talon will face G2 on Thursday May 4th at 11am, while DFM will have to face LOUD to continue their run in the competition.
