Earlier this year, there were many reports regarding the recruitment of two young players from VCS, Chika and LazyFeel, by the DRX team, who would participate in the Academy team. Following Tlong’s not-so-successful overseas debut not long ago, many viewers were quite concerned. After all, LCK is always a harsh environment, and if you can’t adapt as quickly as possible, it can be challenging. However, the subsequent achievements of LazyFeel (Rank 1 Challenger in Korea) and Chika also reaching Challenger rank demonstrate that these two players have great potential to develop in a region with one of the most advanced League of Legends scenes in the world.
Notably, recently, the Vietnamese players have had the opportunity to compete in the Academy tournament of LCK (equivalent to the third division). Here, Chika played a full 16 matches with DRX Academy, while LazyFeel participated in 4 matches. Both players performed exceptionally well, helping DRX maintain an undefeated record (4 wins – 4 draws) as LCK Academy still has a BO2 format. With their current position in the top 3, DRX is well-positioned to enter the playoffs. Additionally, both Chika and LazyFeel will have more opportunities to shine and potentially be promoted to higher team levels.
However, LCK is also an environment with extremely high elimination rates, and in practice, the skill levels between different team tiers can vary greatly. For instance, Poby from T1, when promoted to the main lineup, showed a significant gap between Challengers and the first team. It is clear that not every young player can shine at the highest level of LCK. Cases like Peyz remain “rare gems”, and previously, the young stars Zeus, Oner, and Gumayusi can be considered as one of the highest quality generations that LCK has produced in many years.
But if they truly strive and work hard, young players like Chika and LazyFeel can certainly have greater ambitions. In the past, there have been exceptions, and it is very possible that the two young stars from VCS will also become exceptions in LCK in the future.