During the 2023 World Championship, SofM was seen with the Bilibili Gaming players in South Korea. While SofM was there for vacation, the BLG players were competing. Given his close relationships with many players and coaching staff, it was no surprise to see SofM gathering with BLG. However, this led many LPL fans, especially BLG supporters, to hope for a reunion. The audience here wanted to see SofM again, of course in the role of coach for the new season.
The situation became more plausible when many Chinese netizens started rumors that BLG had positive interactions with SofM. There’s no doubt about SofM’s expertise, and he is believed to be able to harmonize the strong egos of BLG’s star players, especially Bin. Even the Vietnamese League of Legends audience believed that SofM would return to BLG in the new season in a new capacity, as his passion for professional LoL remains very strong.
However, recently, in a statement regarding the departure of former coach Tabe, BLG’s manager Blinky stated: “No, there’s no way SofM is coming here to be a coach, so everyone stop looking for him. SofM is now a boss (CEO) and a streamer. There’s no such thing as BLG.SofM.”
Many people may know that SofM has a stake in Vikings Gaming, one of the largest net cafe systems in Vietnam. Notably, in the new season of VCS, Vikings Esports (the League of Legends team under Vikings Gaming) will participate in the tournament. It’s possible that SofM will play a significant role in the team’s coaching staff or contribute on the technical side.
Nevertheless, with Blinky’s confirmation, SofM’s coaching future at BLG seems to have closed. This is disappointing, but it’s quite possible that SofM will debut in this role right in the VCS without needing to go anywhere else. This would also be a more feasible future, especially since SofM only has experience from a short time in his role at ASIAD, and that stage is significantly smaller compared to the LPL.