On May 5, the decisive match for advancing in MSI 2023 between GAM Esports (GAM) and Movistar R7 (R7) officially took place. With high expectations from both fans and professionals, Levi and his teammates were expected to defeat their opponents to move forward. However, the VCS representative faced a disappointing loss with a final score of 1-2.
Immediately after the match, R7 player Oddie was asked about the reason for his team’s victory. The reason being this was the first time a representative from the LLA region won an official match at an international event. Oddie himself had faced many defeats against VCS representatives in the past. Sharing on this issue, Oddie candidly stated that he felt the VCS representative underestimated them, leading to their defeat.
“Both we and GAM made quite a few mistakes in the previous match. In game 1, we could have easily defeated the opponent. They seemed to underestimate us and did not research R7, which is why they lost. They were overly confident in Levi’s Kindred and did not think we could use Poppy and Gragas. R7 changed their pick orders in the decisive game, and we won,” Oddie shared after the match.
Indeed, GAM Esports revealed their playstyle too early in the third game against R7. They even opted for Kindred in the second pick, allowing R7 to counter this champion with Poppy or Gragas later on. It is worth noting that Oddie is an extremely skilled Poppy player. As the match unfolded, Levi found himself at a disadvantage in the early game due to being heavily countered. Combined with R7’s excellent team fighting, Levi and his teammates were completely defeated in this match.
This defeat is indeed a significant wake-up call for the Vietnamese team’s approach to matches in the future. Hopefully, the GAM team will learn valuable lessons to perform better and secure a spot in the upcoming 2023 World Championship.
