A win and a tie Saturday were enough to keep PSG.LGD atop the standings at the PGL Arlington Major in Arlington, Texas.
The French-partnered (with football standout Paris Saint-Germain) Chinese squad cruised to a 2-0 victory against Liquid in its first match (winning in 44 minutes on red and 40 minutes on green), before settling for a 1-1 draw against Soniqs in its second (losing in 42 minutes on green and winning in 30 minutes on red).
Wang “Ame” Chunyu posted a kills-deaths-assists average of 7.0-3.5-10.0 against Liquid and a KDA average of 4.5-3.5-7.5 against Soniqs to keep PSG.LGD perched atop Group A.
Seventeen teams from around the world are competing for shares of a $500,000 prize pool, including a grand prize of $200,000. In the Group Stage, they were drawn into groups of nine and eight for single round robins, with all matches best-of-two.
The top four teams will qualify for the upper bracket of the playoffs, and the fifth- and sixth-place teams from each group will advance to the lower bracket. The double-elimination bracket of best-of-three matches will take place next week, with the best-of-five grand final scheduled for Aug. 14.
PSG.LGD (4-1-0) remain one of three teams, along with Outsiders (1-4-0) and Team Aster (3-3-0), not to suffer a loss in Group play.
Aster, also of China, remain at the top of Group B after recording a tie and a win Saturday. In their first match against beastcoast, Aster won in 34 minutes on red and lost in 31 minutes on green to record a draw.
In the final match of the day, Aster dumped Tundra in two straight games, winning in 34 minutes on green and in 35 minutes on red. Du “Monet” Peng paced the winners with an 11.5-2.0-13.5 KDA average.
Royal Never Give Up are now second in Group A after grabbing a 2-0 win against Talon to pair with their 0-2 loss to OG. Fnatic tied Thunder Awaken and defeated Liquid to forge a third-place tie with Outsiders, who also tied Thunder Awaken.
Entity and Team Spirit each recorded a pair of ties on the day, including one against each other, to settle into a second-place tie in the Group B standings behind Aster.
PGL Arlington Major Group Stage standings (match record via W-T-L, map record):
Group A
1. PSG.LGD, 4-1-0, 9-1
2. Royal Never Give Up, 2-3-1, 7-5
T3. Fnatic, 1-4-1, 6-6
T3. Outsiders, 1-4-0, 6-4
5. OG, 1-3-1, 5-5
T6. Soniqs, 0-4-2, 4-8
T6. Team Liquid, 1-2-2, 4-6
T6. Thunder Awaken, 0-4-1, 4-6
9. Talon Esports, 1-1-3, 3-7
Group B
1. Team Aster, 3-3-0, 9-3
T2. Entity, 2-3-1, 7-5
T2. Team Spirit, 2-3-1, 7-5
T4. BOOM Esports, 2-2-2, 6-6
T4. Evil Geniuses, 2-2-2, 6-6
T6. beastcoast, 1-3-2, 5-7
T6. Natus Vincere, 2-1-3, 5-7
8. Tundra Esports, 0-3-3, 3-9
–Field Level Media
