On April 24th, the final match of the VCS Spring 2022 officially kicked off with a showdown between GAM Esports and Saigon Buffalo. As a result, GAM officially crowned champion with a 100% unbeaten record. However, since GAM will represent Vietnam at the upcoming SEA Games 31, SGB will take the place of the yellow-black team to participate in MSI 2022 held in Busan, South Korea in May.
Of course, as is customary, Riot’s social media page for League of Legends should have posted a congratulatory message to the team that won the domestic league, along with an announcement of the name that will attend MSI 2022 (or Worlds, if it were Summer). But this time, Riot’s social media page for League of Legends was completely silent. This has understandably caused outrage and frustration among the VCS community.
It should be noted that posting an announcement of which team won the domestic league and will participate in international events is a common and very familiar practice for the global League of Legends community. Not only is it just a notification, but it also helps teams from smaller regions, those in the “dips” of the global League of Legends scene, gain wider recognition. What has outraged the VCS community against Riot is that teams like Team Aze (Latin America) or DetonatioN FocusMe (Japan) – which cannot compare to VCS in terms of longevity or level, still received congratulatory announcements from Riot.
Many opinions suggest that it may be because of the impact of SEA Games 31 that has left Riot confused. After all, the champion of VCS Spring 2022 is GAM, who cannot attend MSI 2022. Meanwhile, the team that finished second, SGB, will replace them, so Riot has no suitable way to announce it.
However, this could actually just be an excuse for Riot seemingly “forgetting” VCS. After all, GAM’s inability to attend MSI 2022 due to the SEA Games 31 schedule surely was communicated to Riot by Garena. Furthermore, posting an announcement with two separate parts to congratulate GAM on their championship and welcome SGB to MSI 2022, along with a brief explanation, would be enough for the community to understand the situation. But Riot has not done anything at all.
Perhaps VCS has been away from international events for too long, causing this region to be “abandoned” by Riot. But according to many VCS fans, this could be a great motivation for SGB to fight harder at the upcoming MSI 2022, reclaiming the VCS’s position in the eyes of the international League of Legends community and especially with Riot itself.