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The main stage of the biggest Dota 2 event of the year, TI 10, is well underfoot.
As the final NA Dota 2 representatives, Evil Geniuses, got eliminated from the tournament along with Alliance, all eyes have fallen on the impending Upper Bracket Semi-finals. Later in the day, we have Virtus.pro vs PSG.LGD, the current top teams of the CIS and China region respectively.
Dota 2 The International 10: Virtus.pro vs PSG.LGD
Predictions
Currently, PSG.LGD is the no-brianer top-place favorite for TI 10. The team has shown peak form and consistency throughout the tournament, and has gone through the entire Group Stage without having dropped a single series.
If historical precedents are anything to go by, the series does not bode well for Virtus.pro. The last three Internationals, in 2017, 2018, and 2019, have all had upper bracket stand-offs between VP and PSG.LGD. In all three cases, PSG.LGD has whitewashed Virtus.pro and sent it to the lower brackets.
While it does not match PSG.LGD's credentials or odds, Virtus.pro seems to have a knack for surprise upsets. At its best, the team has proven to be unbeatable and has a good momentum coming in from a blood-and-sweat series win against Vici Gaming; another element in the great Dota 2 Chinese wall.
Head-to-head results
Although they are from different regions, both Virtus.pro and PSG.LGD are long-standing esports organizations. They have played each other in 39 individual matches, and PSG.LGD currently holds a statistical majority with 23 wins.
Virtus.pro's aggressive drafting and gun-ho domination worked against PSG.LGD in the ESL One Fall 2021, where it won 2-0 in the Upper Bracket Semi-finals. However, a repeat of that seems unlikely today, given the resistance and adaptibility to aggressive drafts that PSG.LGD has shown as of late.
Recent results
PSG.LGD has had a phenomenal run in DPC 2021 thus far. The team won the AniMajor, and the OGA Dota PIT Invitational most recently.
By comparison, Virtus.pro has not won any tier-1 Dota 2 event since EPIC League Season 2 last year.
When and where to watch Virtus.pro vs PSG.LGD
The first game of the series begins at approximately 7.45 pm CET (GMT +2). Dota 2 players can catch it live on the in-game client's 'Watch' section. It can also be found on the official Dota 2 website and the "dota2_ti" Twitch channel.
Dota 2 rosters of Virtus.pro and PSG.LGD
Virtus.pro
- Egor "Nightfall" Grigorenko
- Danil "gpk"Skutin
- Dmitry "DM" Dorokhin
- Vitalie "Save-" Melnic
- Illias "Kingslayer" Ganeev
PSG.LGD
- Wang "Ame" Chunyu
- Cheng Jin "NothingToSay" Xiang
- Zhang "Faith_bian" Ruida
- Zhao "XinQ" Zixing
- Zhang "y'" Yiping
