On the third day of the Rumble Stage at MSI 2021, Royal Never Give Up, with a perfect record since the group stage, was expected to extend their winning streak. In fact, some fans of the team from the LPL region even claimed that RNG was the number one contender for the MSI championship and that the team would set a record for winning without their nexus ever exploding.
However, it was not Cloud9 with Perkz or the reigning World Championship 2020 team that halted RNG’s terrifying dominance; it was PSG Talon – a team from the PCS region, which is lesser-known both in terms of reputation and achievements compared to other expected teams. Moreover, PSG Talon not only won but did so overwhelmingly, completely dominating RNG – something they had never experienced since the start of the 2021 season, even while playing in the LPL region.
However, PSG’s victory has sparked intense debate within the Vietnamese League of Legends community. Many people recalled a recent statement by River – PSG’s jungler: “Aside from the four major regions, I think GAM Esports from Vietnam is the strongest team, but since they couldn’t participate, I can say we are the strongest.”
PSG’s victory over RNG can be considered a milestone, but River’s previous statement led many to think of GAM Esports. The reigning VCS Spring 2021 champions had to stay home due to the pandemic, but GAM is a familiar “partner” of PSG, as the two teams often scrim together.
The VCS League of Legends community is divided into several opinions. Some believe that with PSG’s achievements, if GAM had attended MSI, they could have also pulled off some surprising feats. Not to mention, in a BO1, anything can happen.
However, a significant portion believes that the results of scrims, regardless of their quantity, do not necessarily indicate anything. In reality, PSG Talon is the “dominant force” in the PCS region, so even if GAM scrimmed evenly, they would still fall short in actual matches. Furthermore, many assert that VCS, even if they attended MSI, would not make any significant impact.
At MSI 2021 this year, GAM was unable to participate due to very unfortunate and objective reasons. However, based on their performance and assessments from those involved, achieving good results would have been entirely feasible if GAM had gone to Iceland.
Currently, GAM and VCS are mired in ongoing drama with no end in sight, and everyone hopes that things will stabilize so that the players can focus on the Summer Split and the chance to qualify for the 2021 World Championship.