PSG.LGD defeat 4AM in grueling CDA-FDC Professional Championship grand finals

All-star Chinese Dota 2 team Four Angry Men’s debut tournament didn’t go quite as envisioned. Fy and Somnus’ former team PSG.LGD turned up to spoil the party, claiming the CDA-FDC Professional Championship 3-2 in a series that went the distance.

Former LGD stalwarts fy and Somnus announced that they were leaving the illustrious organization in September following the expiry of their contracts. A long list of achievements, including multiple Major wins and two podium finishes at The International 2018 and 2019, was left behind in favor of 4AM, a fledgling PUBG esports organization looking to branch out to Dota 2. 

Both teams finished at the top of their respective groups, and would have met each other earlier in the upper bracket had 4AM not fallen to Royal Never Give Up in their first playoff series. The first meeting between past allies would have to wait until the grand finals, where both teams cleared out their challengers one after the other.

This was just 4AM’s eight official series, and while they were unable to lay claim to the trophy, the team could take heart from a spirited display with their highly talented squad.

This tournament win marks LGD’s new roster second tournament win, having won the China Dota 2 Pro Cup one month ago, and third top-two finish. They walk home with $29,934 and the trophy, while runners-up 4AM earned $22,451.

Game one was a by the books victory for 4AM with three very farmed, pushing-focused cores in Troll Warlord, Leshrac, and Nature’s Prophet. LGD could not match up to their tempo, unable to find enough pick offs even with dedicated gankers like a mid Tiny and support Mirana and was forced to watch their structures taken down one after the other.

LGD doubled down on their ganking playstyle in the second game. They instead opted for high burst heroes in Zeus and Lina to ensure that Faith_bian’s Tiny always had follow-up damage. LGD feasted on Eurus’ squishy Drow Ranger, ensuring that their Battlefury Lifestealer went out of control on the net worth charts.

4AM looked well on their way to repeat their game one performance with a stable tri-core, swapping Troll for the Sven in game three. LGD threw a massive wrench in the opponent’s plans in the form of Ame’s Anti-Mage. While 4AM secured two lanes of barracks in the mid-game, Ame continued to exert pressure with peerless split-pushing. His immense mobility and survivability proved too much to handle for his opponents, and he led his team to match point.

4AM’s mid lane star Somnus showed up his former team with a Queen of Pain pick in the fourth game, a hero that has fallen out of favor in the recent meta. Somnus wreaked havoc around the map, helping his team gain an unassailable advantage. LGD could not muster a suitable fighting force, and eventually, Eurus’ Sven mopped up the remnants of LGD and sent the series to a deciding final game.

For the decider, LGD picked up two tanky frontliners in Magnus and Slardar to protect their Drow Ranger pick. 4AM looked to do the same, drafting a teamfight-heavy lineup around an Arc Warden. The final game saw both teams on heightened alert, making for a slow-paced first half that saw 4AM creeping slightly ahead.

While both carries matched well head-to-head, it was LGD’s initiators that were the difference-makers down the stretch. Cheng “NothingToSay” Jin Xiang’s Magnus and Faith_bian’s Slardar dictated the pace of every teamfight, smashing through 4AM’s plethora of abilities to neuter Eurus’ Arc Warden, forcing 4AM to tap out after a grueling series.