On the last day of the League of Legends World Championship (Worlds 2023) Play-In Stage, the EMEA region secured a victory over the APAC region.
Team BDS and PSG Talon, who made it to top four, engaged in an intense battle for the last spot in the Worlds 2023 Swiss Stage which was ultimately won by Team BDS in a 3-2 reverse sweep.
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How the series went the distance in the first four games
In the first two games, PSG Talon exhibited remarkable control over the map. The first game had a slow start, which saw PSG Talon relying on their team fighting prowess in the late game to get a head start in the series.
Riding the momentum with four dragon buffs in their favor, PSG Talon also won game two, putting them at match point.
However, Team BDS didn’t give up easily. Even though PSG Talon dominated the mid game, a pivotal clash around the Baron Nashor pit, led by Adam “Adam” Maanane’s Olaf and Théo “Sheo” Borile’s Maokai, changed the course of game three. Seizing this opportunity, Team BDS wrestled control to secure a win.
In an attempt to regain control of the series, PSG Talon sought victory in game four, but it once again went over to BDS.
Team BDS advances to the Worlds 2023 Swiss Stage after pulling off a reverse sweep against PSG Talon
In a high-stakes showdown for Swiss Stage qualification, both teams gave it their all in game five, which turned out to be the longest match of the series at approximately 44 minutes.
Throughout this closely contested game, the gold lead remained tight, with both teams gaining and losing a few hundred to a thousand gold at different points.
By the 36-minute mark, both PSG Talon and Team BDS had each secured three dragon buffs.
Team BDS sought to gain further advantages by targeting the two most powerful neutral monsters in the game. Initially, they managed to take down the Baron Nashor but suffered the loss of three players in the process.
However, they did manage to secure their third Cloud Drake, granting them a significant movement speed bonus.
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The climax of game five occurred at the 42-minute mark. Sheo’s Maokai managed to catch Lin Yu-En’s Rell, who narrowly escaped.
Meanwhile, Adam’s Darius successfully caught out Huang “Azhi” Shang-Jhih’s Gnar. The team then shifted their attention to Tsou “Wako” Wei-Yang’s Aphelios, eventually taking down all members of PSG Talon.
During the action, Ilias “nuc” Bizriken’s Tristana reaped a quadra kill, which explosively concluded the series.
Team BDS’s remarkable comeback marks the fourth instance of a reverse sweep in Worlds history. The previous occurrences include Top Esports’ victory over Fnatic at Worlds 2020, Beyond Gaming’s sweep of Galatasaray Esports at Worlds 2021, and DRX’s triumph over Edward Gaming at Worlds 2022.
Following this impressive win, Team BDS advances to the Swiss Stage, where their first opponent will be MSI 2023 champions JD Gaming.
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