PSG Talon, who were forced to use three substitutes in their League of Legends World Championship debut, went undefeated on their first day of play during the worlds play-in stage on Friday with an upset victory over China's LGD Gaming to cap off their day.
The Pacific Championship Series squad defeated a play-in group favorite in LGD following an earlier win over Latin American team Rainbow7. Coming into the event, many analysts predicted that the Chinese team would take first place in the group. PSG Talon will face off against Unicorns of Love on Saturday and V3 Esports on Sunday for a chance to advance out of Group B in first place.
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Due to visa issues with their South Korean players, jungler Kim "River" Dong-woo and mid laner Park "Tank" Dan-won, and AD carry Wong "Unified" Chun Kit, who is from Hong Kong, PSG Talon opted to use three substitutes for the world championship. The team struck a deal with ahq eSports Club to borrow jungler Hsiao "Kongyue" Jen-Tso and mid laner Chen "Uniboy" Chang-Chu.
In the bottom lane, Machi Esports assistant coach Chen "Dee" Chun-Dee is filling in at the AD carry role. Dee has not played a game in a professional League of Legends league since August 2017.
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If PSG Talon qualify for the group stage, they will be able to use their original Pacific Championship Series roster with the return of River, Tank and Unified, host Alex "Machine" Richardson said during the post-game show. If PSG qualifies alongside Team Liquid, MAD Lions and LGD, as predicted, they will be placed in Group B, where they'd meet DAMWON, JD Gaming and Rogue.