At the current time, VCS Spring 2023 has reached its final stages. The first two matches of the playoffs between GAM Esports – CERBERUS Esports and SBTC Esports – Team Whales both ended with a score of 3-1 in favor of GAM and SE. These two storied teams will face off in the winners’ finals. Meanwhile, CES and TW will fight to keep their hopes alive this Spring.
However, the match between SE and TW left many VCS fans feeling frustrated. The team known as the “Whales” initially took the lead. But a series of mistakes in the following games, along with SE’s resurgence, led to TW’s eventual defeat. However, it wasn’t just TW that had forgettable moments. Even the winning team, SE, did not perform convincingly.
Specifically, there were nearly all misfired Glacial Prisons from Sejuani in Killerqueen’s hands during the decisive game. While it’s known that they were under pressure from the scoreline, TW had not entirely lost the game to SE. Players like Gloryyy and Vit were still maintaining a good game against their opponents. However, with Killerqueen playing a playmaking champion like Sejuani, his continuous missed ultimates prevented TW from initiating favorable team fights against SE. He has also been called for investigation by many viewers for his underwhelming performance in the recent match against SE, despite having played well in the tiebreaker prior.
SE itself was similar in the earlier game 3. Even while in a winning position and completely pressuring TW, SE did not utilize their skills accurately. In a situation where they reached the tier 3 Mid Lane turret, a series of missed abilities from DNK and Dia1 led to a stalemate without any impact.
– “Watching was truly irritating, I didn’t recognize the top 2 and top 3 teams in VCS playing like this.”
– “Investigate Killerqueen urgently, I’m not a fan but watching him miss Glacial Prisons is genuinely frustrating.”
– “Giving advantages to GAM resulted in GAM winning back, while TW – SE just kept throwing back and forth with neither team able to capitalize.”
– “It sounds harsh, but it really was an eye-sore to watch, VCS has no hope like this.”
In reality, both teams made numerous mistakes in the recent matches, and only individual standout performances (from Dia1, Slayder…) brought SE a victory. The “Pink Chicken” will need to adjust their playstyle. After all, GAM or any team at MSI 2023 is not like TW. The reigning VCS champions always know how to punish every mistake, no matter how small, from their opponents and are fully capable of making SE “regret it”.