On September 9th (Vietnam time), Riot Games released new information regarding the 2021 World Championship. Notably, the organization confirmed that the VCS region would not participate in the upcoming top-tier League of Legends tournament in Iceland.
With VCS officially missing the opportunity to attend the World Championship, we conducted an interview with Coach JackieWind – the head coach of GAM Esports to hear his thoughts after a tumultuous year for the VCS region in general and GAM in particular.
Hello Coach JackieWind, the news that VCS cannot attend the 2021 World Championship is truly disappointing for the Vietnamese League of Legends community. Can you share your feelings about this?
I feel very disappointed that there will be no representatives attending the 2021 World Championship, and this is the third consecutive time that VCS representatives have not been able to participate in international tournaments.
The players must be very disappointed about this news?
Upon hearing that they could not compete in VCS Summer 2021 and attend the 2021 World Championship, the players were very sad and disheartened, disappointed because we have been training very hard for over 3 months.
You made some statements that are believed to relate to VCS’s inability to attend the World Championship. Can you share more about that? For instance, what commitments did Riot make to the VCS region after Vietnamese teams were unable to attend the 2020 World Championship and MSI 2021?
I feel very sad and disappointed about how Riot Games announced that VCS would not be present at this year’s World Championship. As for the commitments to VCS representatives, specifically GAM after being unable to attend the 2020 World Championship and MSI 2021, I must refrain from disclosing that. However, this has not yet been fulfilled as of now.
According to SGB’s Coach Ren, the decision that VCS could not go to Iceland was only made recently. Were there any practical efforts made earlier to get VCS to the World Championship?
Riot Games and Garena made efforts to get VCS to the 2021 World Championship. However, the change of the competition venue made it very difficult to obtain visas for VCS teams.
At this point, we have not had a tournament since Spring 2021, but if the Summer tournament is held, are you confident that GAM will secure the top spot and a ticket to the World Championship?
We have not had any disruptions in the main roster for Spring and Summer 2021, and we even received significant support from NRG Asia, so I am very confident that GAM will successfully defend the Summer championship if the tournament takes place.
During the time that domestic tournaments in other regions and countries around the world were held, did GAM have the opportunity to scrim with other teams? What were the results of those scrims?
Among the 4 Chinese teams participating in the 2021 World Championship, GAM had the opportunity to scrim with 2 of them, and we learned a lot from these top teams in the world.
If you could participate in the 2021 World Championship, do you think VCS would have a chance to go far? And what would be GAM’s goal if participating in the World Championship?
I believe GAM would get through the group stage, and if we were lucky enough not to face the representatives from China and Korea too early, I think GAM would have a chance to go far in the 2021 World Championship.
After two years of absence from the international arena, do you think that when we return, the position of Vietnamese League of Legends will be the same as before? Will it be more advanced or show signs of regression?
It’s hard to say about the future, but recent developments in VCS will certainly harm VCS teams and affect results in international tournaments.
Do you have any expectations for the next year? When there is no certainty that VCS will not miss MSI 2022?
Although there is no guarantee that VCS representatives in general and GAM in particular will have a chance to participate in MSI or the 2022 World Championship, I personally hope that the SEA Games and ASIAD will be held next year.
GAM has just received substantial investment from NRG Asia after being acquired by this group. With VCS Summer not being able to take place and our region losing its spot at the World Championship, will these factors affect the collaboration between both parties?
NRG Asia is a strong organization with financial potential and serious, long-term investment in GAM, so the inability to hold the Summer VCS will not affect this collaboration at all.
Currently, the VCS organizers are still informing that the Summer tournament will be held later this year. Can you share some feelings about this? Does holding the Summer 2021 VCS still hold much meaning, when the most valuable prize, the ticket to the World Championship, is no longer available?
Although the most valuable prize, the ticket to the World Championship, is no longer available, I believe having a tournament for the players to maintain their performance is still better than having to wait until February next year.
At this point, perhaps we should look to the future. Will GAM focus on stabilizing the roster or adding more quality names? Can you share the team’s direction moving forward?
Unfortunately, I cannot provide information about GAM’s roster for the next season at this time, but I and the leadership team will do everything we can to maintain GAM’s position and represent Vietnam at the SEA Games and ASIAD 2022.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Coach JackieWind. I wish you and the GAM Esports team good health to overcome the pandemic and achieve new successes in the future.