Coach Tinikun’s departure from GAM Esports was hinted at even before the VCS Spring 2020 tournament began. This information was confirmed by Tinikun himself, and recently, after signing a new contract with Noway, the coach announced his farewell to GAM Esports.
On his personal Facebook, Coach Tinikun posted a lengthy farewell letter, reminiscing about the memories and milestones during his journey with GAM Esports in their pursuit of glory, while also encouraging fans to maintain their faith in the team’s future victories.
In this post, Coach Tinikun also revealed a lot of information about the blockbuster contracts he brought to GAM during his final season as coach. Notably, he disclosed that he had to pay out of his own pocket to secure Palette’s signature due to the player’s high release fee.
Additionally, he affirmed that he was the one who wanted GAM to win, as he had experienced all the emotions, both bitter and sweet, with GAM over the past four years.
In his final season as coach of GAM Esports, Tinikun’s biggest regret was not being able to help the team claim the championship title. However, the GAM roster remains intact, and the team’s stars will continue to fight and wear their colors. Tinikun may leave, but Dia1, Levi, Palette, and Kiaya will still have to keep battling and seek victory.
Therefore, in his final days, Tinikun remained very determined to complete the GAM roster, with an initial plan to recruit BigKoro to finalize the lineup. However, in the end, he chose Noway because this marksman is very close to Levi and Dia1, and “Long kua”‘s skills and talent have also been proven on major stages.
Noway is also the last gift Tinikun leaves for GAM before departing. Sharing his future plans, the coach officially denied rumors about joining OverPower Esports, but did not specify where he would go next.
Joining GAM Esports as a coach in the summer of 2016 (when it was still called GIGABYTE Marines), Coach Tinikun led the team to numerous achievements with 3 VCS championships, 1 GPL championship, a 6th place finish at MSI 2017, and narrowly missing out on the knockout stage at the 2017 World Championship after losing to Fnatic in the final tiebreaker.
Under Tinikun’s tenure, GAM Esports also holds the record for the most wins by a VCS team in an international tournament, with 3 victories during the group stage of MSI 2017.
The name Tinikun is synonymous with both glories and bright milestones of Vietnamese League of Legends, but it is also the source of many controversial stories within the Vietnamese Esports community.
Another noteworthy point is that alongside Tinikun, several members of GAM’s leadership, such as analyst Iris, coach Yuna, and manager Trần Sơn, have also had their contracts with the team expire. Both Iris and Trần Sơn have confirmed they will be parting ways with GAM Esports. It seems this is a move indicating that this team is on the verge of a comprehensive personnel overhaul ahead of the VCS Summer 2020.