There’s a funny story from before GAM Esports went to the 2019 World Championship, when coach Tinikun filmed a clip of Zeros singing and posted statuses like: “And still can’t play Vladimir,” “Knowing how to play Vladimir means a salary of half a billion”….
Essentially, Vladimir is a champion that requires heavy strategic thinking; he needs a lot of farming, precise Teleport timing, and is very strong in team fights. Coach Tinikun’s wish might be understood that while Zeros has good skills, his strategic thinking does not match; if he meets this requirement, he could be “the champion of the world”.
That was the story in 2019, but currently, Zeros seems to have not changed much in his playstyle. The recent loss to GAM Esports clearly highlighted Zeros’ weaknesses, as his champion choices seem to clash with EVOS’s composition.
For example, in Game 1, we see that EVOS has a very typical protective ADC lineup with Karma and Braum as the two Supports, and Rek’Sai playing the role of controlling and applying early pressure. Normally, Zeros’ final choice for the top lane should be another tank like Ornn or Maokai… to ensure the best shield. If taking a risk, it could be a character that deals damage and excels in fights like Wukong.
However, Zeros took a risk by choosing Aatrox to face off against Jayce or Renekton from GAM Esports. Both matchups depend on whether you are above your opponent’s level or if your jungle can intervene effectively, but the reality showed that Kiaya was not intimidated by Zeros in direct confrontations. Levi also clearly outperformed Sorn in recognizing ganking opportunities and jungle control.
The narrow champion pool of Zeros allows GAM Esports to ban and pick very comfortably; they are not afraid of his skill champions, so there’s no need to ban them. GAM also knows that Zeros does not play strategic champions like Ornn, Wukong, or Vladimir, so they simply ignored them. This leads to GAM focusing their bans entirely on limiting Divkid and Sorn, and as long as they handle the bottom half of EVOS’s map, victory is assured.
The torture from GAM Esports towards Zeros truly came in Game 3, where they let Kiaya solo lane against him. However, the skill dominance was not evident; Zeros lost 2 turrets by the 10-minute mark, and he found himself behind 40-50 minions compared to Kiaya, becoming “useless” too early.
Of course, a best-of-three is not enough to fully assess the strength of EVOS Esports, but Zeros’ playstyle has not changed at all since the time he played for Phong Vũ Buffalo until now. The situation at EVOS is quite different; it requires Zeros to transform and adapt to the new team.
Remember that this is a team with a structured playstyle, so the “demon king” needs to adapt to this if he wants to make EVOS a true “championship contender”.
