The League of Legends Pacific Championship Series (PCS) 2020 Summer Split kicked-off with a brand new partnership with Taiwan’s largest bank, CTBC, along with the curtain-raiser match between reigning champions — PSG Talon (formerly Talon Esports) and Machi Esports (MCX). The Spring Split finals rematch was a mouth-watering encounter for the fans who were eager to watch PSG’s new mid laner, PSG Tank, debuting in place of the regular starter, PSG Candy.
The new partnership with French football giant, Paris Saint Germain, gave PSG Talon a massive boost and translated well on the Rift after the team defeated MCX, Nova Esports (NOV), and Liyab Esports (LYB) on the opening weekend to rise to top of the ranking.
League of Legends Pacific Championship Series
Despite losing the opening match against PSG, MCX bounced back strong in their following two games against Southeast Asian opponents Resurgence (RSG) and Berjaya Dragons (BJD). One of the early favourites, ahq eSports club (AHQ), slumped to a surprise defeat against Taipei J Team (JT), despite a good performance against BJD on Saturday. JT’s results on the opening weekend were a stark contrast to their performance in Spring. The victories against the new look, Alpha Esports (ALF) and AHQ, provided a much-needed confidence boost after their below-average split.
Southeast Asian teams did not have the best of starts as BJD (0-3) and LYB (0-2) both failed to register a win in five attempts. However, NOV showed signs of improvement with the addition of NOV Coldenfeet as their new ADC who was also the MVP in the match against RSG.
Singapore-based team, RSG, took three weeks for their first victory back in Spring but didn’t have to wait that long after beating BJD on Sunday. The addition of Oceanic Pro League-winning coach, RSG Jensen, as their new head coach raised eyebrows but the team presented a fresh playstyle including the level 1 lane swap to surprise NOV.
Pacific Championship Series Top 5 Plays of the Week
Match of the Week – PSG Talon (PSG) vs Machi Esports (MCX)
These two teams are recreating a rivalry that mirrors that of Flash Wolves and AHQ from years ago, after they played against each other for an incredible 14 times back in Spring and during the PCS vs VCS Mid-Season Showdown (MSS). After losing to MCX in the MSS’ round-robin stage, their record was tied at seven wins each. The opening match of the Summer Split served as the latest tiebreaker for both teams, and PSG rose to the occasion with a dominating win against MCX. The game had everything a PSG fan would have wanted, including a flash-hook by PSG Kaiwing that tore MCX apart in one of the early skirmishes.
Player of the week – PSG River
Amidst a team of star players including Kaiwing, Unified, Hanabi, and Candy, River has successfully grown to become a strong carry for the team since the Spring playoffs, and has continued his good form into Summer. In the three matches played on the opening weekend, he registered zero deaths in two matches and earned himself the MVP title against LYB. His Lee Sin was fearless and made aggressive plays to send his opponent into chaos.
Full match week results
