Every game on Day 1 of the 2022 Mid-Season Invitational basically went as expected heading into the final game of the day. But even though there were no upsets up to that point, the Campeonato Brasileiro de League of Legends’ RED Canids made sure to flip the script when fans least expected it. In their first match of MSI 2022, RED Canids made their mark by defeating the Pacific Championship Series champions, PSG Talon, in convincing fashion.
Both teams drafted conventional compositions for the most part with the exception of RED picking Wukong, which has started to gain steam as a viable jungle champion. Despite the pick being 0-2 on the day, RED trusted in jungler Gabriel Vinicius “Aegis” Saes de Lemos to make it work.
RED maintained full control for the entirety of the game thanks to the fantastic performance of the Aegis’ pick, which resulted in a deathless stat line of 6/0/4 kills/deaths/assists. In fact, no one on RED died at all, as the game was near perfect. The only things on the scoreboard for PSG were two towers and two dragons.
The match didn’t go past the 30-minute mark. RED looked great throughout the game as they secured the first major upset of the tournament. One of the casters during the game, Daniel “Drakos” Drakos was particularly impressed by RED’s performance.
“Upsets happen, yes, but they are upsets. They are messy, they are sloppy,” Drakos said during the game. “This team is clean through every stage of the game.”
While RED looked great, PSG did not. As the expected second-seed in Group B, they now know getting out of the group is no longer a given.
In a post-match interview, RED’s mid laner Daniel “Grevthar” Xavier stated that he thought that PSG were “shaky and nervous.” He also said this wasn’t the performance he saw from their 2022 PCS spring run.
PSG will have a chance to shake off the rough start in their next match on Wednesday against the reigning MSI champions, Royal Never Give Up. RED will go up against fastPay Wildcats on Wednesday as well.
