First day of the main event at The International 2023 came to a close with an LGD Gaming versus Azure Ray China Dota 2 showdown.
A clean 2-0 sweep of LGD over Azure Ray ensures that one of the oldest organizations in the Dota 2 field makes it for the sixth time in the history of The International in the Top 3. This year, they make it to the Top 3 with three newcomers to the TI stage on their roster and with captain Zhang "y`" Yiping looking to join the two-timers club.


LGD Gaming came prepared with a Magnus-Muerta combo to open the upper bracket semifinals against the fellow Chinese team Azure Ray and delivered one of the most spectacular games of the first day in the main event. They had a clean strategy execution and perfect gameplay coming from Cheng "NothingToSay" Jin Xiang on Magnus. Despite losing the laning stage to AR’s Bristleback, LGD hit their timings with a Silver Edge reveal on Muerta around the 25 minute mark and turned the game around.
A six slotted and empowered Muerta proved to be the ultimate damage dealer in the game. Guo "shiro" Xuanang
Shiro did 64.9K damage to enemy heroes with Muerta, which was nearly double of what AR dished out with Bristleback, who had the most damage dealt on his team. Shiro also closed the game with 18K building damage, three times more than the entire Azure Ray line-up could do to LGD’s towers.
Spectre finally prevails over Weaver on TI12 stage
Game two brought an interesting Weaver vs Spectre matchup which up to that point went 2-0 in favor of Weaver on the Climate Pledge stage. In the previous series, Team Spirit and Team Liquid went for this exact carry duel and both times Weaver won.
LGD countered the carry Weaver with plenty of strong lockdowns and an AOE silence coming from a mid lane Puck. Even so, LGD found it rather difficult to bring Weaver down in every engagement, opting in the end to focus anyone else on the enemy team and deal with the pesky bug at the end. It took LGD about 45 minutes to take down Azure Ray and secure themselves a spot in the upper bracket finals at The International 2023.
LGD will fight against Team Spirit on Saturday, October 28 for a spot in the grand finals while Azure Ray will be looking to mount a comeback through lower bracket rounds.