On the evening of April 23, the final match of VCS Spring 2023 officially took place between GAM Esports and SBTC Esports. The final result was not outside the expectations of the audience as GAM successfully defended their VCS championship. At the same time, they return to the MSI stage after several years of absence.
For many fans, the change in format for this year’s MSI 2023 could pose challenges for smaller regions like VCS, PCS, CBLOL… The reason is that teams from the Major group (LPL, LCK, LEC, and LCS) have two slots at MSI 2023. Among them, LCK is the only region where both representatives have qualified directly to the group stage. Other regions, the Spring 2023 runner-up teams will have to compete in the Play-In stage – which gathers smaller teams or wildcard groups.
However, Vietnamese League of Legends fans may not need to worry too much. According to a statistic provided by international League of Legends fans, GAM always has at least one victory when facing Major group representatives. Specifically, from MSI 2017 (GAM’s first appearance at an international tournament) until now, this team has defeated G2 Esports, Team WE, Team SoloMid, Fnatic, Immortals, and J Team. In the recent 2022 World Championship, GAM even defeated the LPL Summer Runner-up and one of the championship contenders – Top Esports. The only region GAM has yet to secure a win against is LCK.
Another piece of information is that in the early hours of April 24 (Vietnam time), the draw for the Play-In stage was conducted. Accordingly, GAM will be in the same group as Golden Guardians and Bilibili Gaming, with their first opponent being the representative from LCS. According to many viewers, GG is a completely manageable opponent for GAM. North American teams have been declining compared to the overall standard. They are still very strong, but GAM players have grounds to be confident in their journey ahead.
The opponent that GAM needs to worry about in their group might just be BLG. However, on a day of peak performance with a unique draft strategy, GAM helped to “send” TES home. They can completely replicate this achievement at the upcoming MSI 2023, especially since GAM’s current players have gained some international experience following the recent 2022 World Championship.