Thunder Awaken vs PSG.LGD: Time for PSG.LGD to experiment

One of the most important international Dota 2 tournaments, the PGL Arlington Major 2022, will continue in the United States on Monday, August 8. Thunder Awaken and PSG.LGD will play in the group stage on the fifth day.

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

Thunder Awaken: to do impossible for playoffs

The South American team is still out of the playoff zone. The Peruvians have lost twice and had five draws. They lost against RNG and OG, and played draws with Talon Esports, Soniqs, Outsiders, Fnatic, and Team Liquid. Thunder Awaken is not the whipping boys, but it is clear that the South American squad is lacking in stability. They have a successful map, and then the failure goes. In order to go further, they will have to do the impossible; that is, to beat the leader of the group and the whole major. While PSG.LGD are not motivated for the last match in the group stage, they won't have any defeat either.

The Peruvians really were in a bad luck. Darkmago was denied a U.S. visa. He will try again but won't make it to the start. The team profile has no information about his participation or replacement, but it's a disadvantage for his team. Moreover, the team gets a technical defeat in the game with Talon on the first day of the group stage, as two players and the coach will get their visas only on August 4 and will arrive in the U.S. only on that day.

All of the regional leagues have been good for Thunder Awaken. The guys won the South American Regional League three times. They went to the majors in Sweden and performed well there, finishing in 5th-6th place but losing in the playoffs to OG. Such results satisfied the management, and they didn't change the lineup. Thunder Awaken is still the main favorite of the South American region. The other day the team won the closed qualifications for ESL One Malaysia 2022, so the preparation for TI11 in Peru is in full swing.

Thunder Awaken (formerly known as Thunder Predator) is a South American eSports organization. Their former name was due to their sponsorship of Acer's Predator brand.

After the failure at TI10, Thunder completely changed their lineup. Instead, they took a full NoPing e-sports lineup. Though they performed well in the region in 2021, they failed to qualify for TI10. To be honest, the team was lucky to be sponsored by an even more top-ranked organization, getting a second chance. The Peruvians have taken advantage of this chance so far, winning the first, second, and third DPC leagues in South America without giving a chance to their competitors.

PSG.LGD: match to decide nothing

PSG.LGD won Group A ahead of schedule and the final game is already a formality for them. We already know that the Chinese play BOOM tomorrow, so they can play whatever they want today. Seven games played in four days, the Chinese team lost only one map, winning six bouts and ending one in a draw. The only team that could defeat the xiao8 team was the Soniqs. The game of the world leader so far is impeccable.

We do not have to tell much how strong PSG.LSD is. The Chinese team will be the odds-on favorite in all tournaments they attend. Since TI10 we haven't seen Chinese teams on the international arena. The whole region missed the first major in Sweden due to covid restrictions, but in July, the formidable Chinese got out and took part in the tournament in the UAE, 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 triumphed, destroying Team Spirit (2-0) in the final.

This Arabian tournament can be considered a preparatory one. 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. Why, they can afford it, they're in the major, and most importantly, they got a ticket to TI11 a long time ago.

In my opinion, PSG.LGD now can be called the most stable team in the world if they are motivated enough. It is worth realizing that xiao8 team won the first and second DPC league in China and both regional finals that Valve organized for the Chinese region instead of the majors. In the summer tour, the team finally relaxed because the main task was accomplished ahead of schedule. Even without going to the last match of the replay, xiao8 team explained that they want to focus on preparing for international starts, and here is one of them.

The squad 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 them if anyone is capable of it at all now.

Head-to-head encounters

At the end of March 2021, these teams played each other in the Singapore Major, and the Peruvians won 2-0.

Expert Betting Tips

It's a risky bet, but not unreasonable. The Chinese don't care about this game anymore, but the Peruvians will fight at their best. That is why I suggest you take a risk and bet on Thunder Awaken not to lose (1X) with odds of 2.648 at 1xbet.

The game will end in a draw, odds on that are 3.20 as offered by Bet365.

Thunder Awaken will register Total Over (35.5) Frags for odds of 1.66 at 22bet.