After winning the final match of the SEA Games 31 qualifying round for League of Legends against Saigon Buffalo, GAM Esports officially becomes the representative team of Vietnam at SEA Games 31. Although VCS (Vietnam) and PCS (remaining Southeast Asian countries, Taiwan, Hong Kong) both fall under Garena, in reality, Vietnam’s League of Legends scene is always considered superior in the Southeast Asia region. Therefore, the chances of GAM winning gold are deemed quite high by the VCS community.
Recently, GAM’s first opponent at SEA Games 31 has been revealed. It is a team currently competing in the PCS – SEM9. For those who are unaware, SEM9 is a team from Malaysia that has only officially appeared on the League of Legends world map since the end of the 2021 season, after taking a spot from Berjaya Dragons. Moreover, SEM9’s achievements or history up to now remain at zero. Notably, in the PCS Spring 2022 tournament, this team is ranked… at the bottom with a record of “all losses” 0-15.
Compared to GAM – a team with a rich tradition and achievements in the VCS as well as the League of Legends scene, SEM9 is nothing more than apprentice players. Most members of SEM9 do not have many outstanding achievements in the professional League of Legends arena. Sending SEM9 to represent Malaysia at SEA Games 31 is perhaps a reluctant decision. Everyone knows that apart from Vietnam, the Southeast Asian region is not particularly keen on League of Legends. In the PCS tournament alone, most of the teams are from Taiwan and Hong Kong, with SEM9 being the only full Malaysian team.
With such a seemingly weak opponent, it can be said that, at this point, the VCS community’s assessment of GAM’s chances of winning gold is growing. Of course, we still need to see who the upcoming opponents of the Vietnamese League of Legends team will be, but unless something unexpected happens, GAM will be the top contender for the gold medal at this SEA Games 31.