Recently, the Vietnam League of Legends (LoL) team completed their journey at the ASIAD. Of course, facing strong opponents from the semifinals onwards, Vietnam was unable to secure any medals. This was somewhat predictable. Not to mention, the Vietnamese players also had a very impressive match against the stars from the LPL, almost achieving victory. For the VCS audience, the performance in the final match of the Vietnamese players deserved praise.
However, being praised does not mean it is a result that Vietnamese fans can be happy and comfortable with. Because even in that match, despite having many advantages at times, the Vietnamese players ultimately lost to the stars from the LPL. The skill gap was clearly visible, but that certainly does not justify the defeat. Especially when in Game 1, the Vietnamese players showed the LPL that they were not easy to defeat at all.
For Caster Hoàng Luân, he admitted that he was not satisfied with what the Vietnamese LoL players showed in Hangzhou. In a recent stream, the caster bluntly asked: “Why do Vietnamese players have to wait until there are no goals left to fight for before they show their best performance?” According to him, this has repeated itself many times in the past. The most recent instance (excluding ASIAD), which the VCS audience still remembers without anyone needing to mention, was GAM Esports’ victory over Top Esports at the 2022 World Championship when the VCS was almost certainly eliminated.
In fact, the caster was even harsher when he admitted: “Even if you put the weakest VCS team in, Vietnam would still finish in the top 4.” Clearly, while this is a somewhat harsh comment, in reality, it wasn’t until the match against Chinese Taipei that Vietnam faced a strong enough opponent. Even Japan, aside from Yutapon, the rest of the names couldn’t compare to the stars of the VCS.
In reality, psychology has always been the biggest issue for Vietnamese players, even for names like Levi, Kiaya, or Kati. An invisible pressure always causes VCS players to stumble at the most crucial moments. Caster Hoàng Luân’s observations may be harsh, but it is clear that current Vietnamese players only shine when they have no goals left. This is certainly not a strength and will definitely not help the VCS advance far on the international stage.