Recently, SofM’s fan page posted a “statistics” article about the most difficult periods in his career, coinciding with the time when SofM’s fan community in Vietnam is expressing great concern as this player just went through a not-so-successful season:
“Today, I sat down to review SofM’s ‘struggles’:
a) At 14, determined to play professionally. “Started out” in the GameTV team but lost to Full Louis right in the Hanoi regional finals.
=> Team Full Louis contacted to recruit him to play top, won the Legendary Journey championship, and proudly brought the trophy to school to show off to friends. => Allowed to compete professionally by family.
b) Full Louis was eliminated from the GPL 2014 semifinals because Jeff and SofM were not yet 17 years old. However, SofM managed to showcase himself quite a bit. His first overseas trip was to Singapore for the GPL quarterfinals. After the trip, everyone said they noticed SofM was more lively, perhaps he broadened his horizons.
c) In 2015, Flash Wolves contacted SofM to join the team, but he was too young and couldn’t get a visa for someone under 18.
d) Spring 2016 VCS finals, Full Louis fell in the finals against SAJ, marking SofM’s last season in the VCS => Full Louis disbanded.
e) Although there was an intention to move to the LPL, SofM still tried to participate in the promotion round of the new team (Full Louis rebranded to SuperHype Gaming). The new team participated in the VCS summer 2016 but without SofM.
f) That Bo10, SofM was just a few steps away from the Worlds.
And many times he was just one point or one round away from going further.
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For many people, success comes from smooth and favorable steps.
For SofM, there are always many obstacles.
But as long as SofM keeps trying and wants to pursue it, he will always have support.
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Competing since childhood, unafraid of anyone, tough, and likes to show off his personality in-game.
When he was young, he wanted to be cool, and now he sees it was quite naive.
Reviewing SofM’s journey to conquer the peak of professional League of Legends, we can see there have been many moments where glory was just a few steps away from this star.
For example, when Full Louis was unexpectedly eliminated from the GPL 2014 semifinals because SofM and Jeff were not old enough to compete, or when SofM’s Full Louis lost in the Spring 2016 VCSA finals against Saigon Joker.
But perhaps the most regrettable moment was during the 2016 Worlds regional qualifiers of the LPL. This was also SofM’s first season with Snake Esports, debuting in the LPL as a foreign player from the VCS region.
Not only did he leave an impression with his aggressive playstyle and precise jungle timing (a skill that even many top LPL junglers at that time could not execute), but as a team, SofM’s SS also achieved great success by participating in the 2016 Worlds regional qualifiers, competing against three other strong teams: I May, Team WE, and Vici Gaming for the final ticket to the most prestigious League of Legends tournament in the world.
Due to low accumulated points, SS had to start their journey with a very tense match against Vici Gaming. The brilliance of SofM, TANK, and Flandre helped the snake team win narrowly with a score of 3-2.
With this result, Snake would have to go through a maximum of 2 more matches, facing Team WE and I May in order to achieve their goal. However, SofM’s journey ultimately had to end after a regrettable loss against Team WE, also with a score of 3-2.
The most notable point was that during this regional qualifier series, the LPL organizers were heavily criticized for creating an extremely “grueling” schedule, with 2 consecutive matches in the preliminary round. And the final results clearly showed the consequences: Snake Esports collapsed after having to play through 10 consecutive games, while WE also fared no better as they went through 2 grueling Bo5 matches within just 2 days.
Even if they had defeated WE, Snake Esports would still have to overcome I May in the qualifying finals, and of course, nothing could be guaranteed there. However, what made fans feel the most regretful was not because they thought SS could defeat I May, but because that year’s SS roster truly had potential and was highly rated for their aggressive playstyle – a weapon that the Chinese hoped to obtain to topple the frustrating control style of the Koreans.
Nevertheless, regret does not change anything. SS could never get closer to the Worlds ticket again, while SofM just went through a disappointing season with Suning Gaming.
However, his career still has a wide-open future ahead, and the dream of the Worlds remains intact for a star recognized globally for his caliber like SofM.