On the second day of the Play-In stage of MSI 2024, GAM Esports (GAM) officially had their debut match against a very strong opponent named Fnatic (FNC). With a clear disparity in strength and caliber, the VCS representative’s defeat against FNC was anticipated. Nevertheless, VCS fans still hoped that Levi and his teammates would make a significant impact in their opening match. Unfortunately, while Levi and his team did create some notable moments, they were overwhelmingly negative.
The most notable highlight for GAM in the recent match was probably Levi creating some excitement for the audience by using Brand as a Jungler in the second game. Conversely, the GAM team had a lackluster day and was completely overwhelmed by FNC. Emo, with the champion Tristana, repeatedly made unnecessary risky plays resulting in excessive deaths.
Thus, after the second day of MSI 2024 ended, the VCS representative quickly became the target of criticism from the audience. For international viewers, they expressed deep disappointment that GAM did not meet the expectations of the fiery gameplay typically seen from VCS. Some even harshly assessed that Levi and his team would be completely destroyed by the CBLOL representative – LOUD (LLL) in their next match if they continued at this level.
Indeed, while watching the match between LLL and TES, viewers could see that the CBLOL representative performed exceptionally well. Despite their 0-2 defeat against TES, LLL showed some incredibly strong resistance, sometimes even matching the LPL representative. Moreover, LLL did not have any overly risky plays like Emo from GAM. Instead, the skill execution from players like Tinows or Route on the LLL side was very impressive.
Therefore, based on the performances in the opening day, it is understandable that international viewers believe LLL will annihilate the VCS representative in the next match. Remembering MSI 2023 last year, GAM also became a huge disappointment after consecutive losses to Golden Guardians (GG) and Rainbow7 (R7). Now, the “black and gold army” is at risk of repeating this embarrassing record at MSI 2024 if they continue to lose to LLL in the upcoming match.
However, fairly speaking, GAM’s defeat can be understood as they came to MSI 2024 with a makeshift roster due to many players being investigated for misconduct. Expecting a player who is still inexperienced and mentally untested like Emo to perform excellently in his first international tournament is unreasonable. While this player did have a poor performance against FNC, it is a necessary lesson for Emo to grow.
Furthermore, GAM can still avoid the above dire outlook if they utilize the preparation time before the match against LLL. Remembering at Worlds 2023, GAM also lost their opening match but the subsequent victory against R7 helped GAM gain a good psychological momentum to qualify for the Swiss stage. If they can do this in the upcoming match against LLL, GAM could very well create special highlights at this year’s MSI.
GAM or VCS teams often perform better when pushed to the limit. In this MSI 2024, the match against LLL may be the only lifeline for the reigning VCS champions. And perhaps, GAM will not want to miss what could be their only chance to salvage their journey in Chengdu this year.