As previously reported, the VCS organizers announced that the VCS Winter tournament will take place immediately after the conclusion of the 2021 World Championship. All teams in the VCS will participate, and this is seen as the final domestic tournament to close out a tumultuous 2021 season affected by the pandemic.
However, while other teams are either extending contracts with current players or retaining most of their key members, Team Flash has made a surprising move. Specifically, the 2020 VCS champion has parted ways with a series of four key players: Palette, Meliodas, Pake, and Divkid. This is indeed a very unexpected decision, as these four players frequently took to the field throughout the past Spring season. Although FL did not achieve particularly good results, most of the players are still very young and have potential for development.
There are many speculations surrounding the future direction of these players. While Divkid has a very good relationship with members of SBTC Esports, Palette is still regarded as one of the most talented Supports in the Vietnamese League of Legends scene. Additionally, after the conclusion of the Spring 2021 season, there has been much information that SE has shown interest in acquiring Meliodas to replace Yijin, the jungler involved in several scandals, ranging from lack of seriousness in training and competitions to accusations of gambling involvement.
As for FL, they are facing a major restructuring, retaining only the duo Yoshino – Stark and substitute Dante. Before announcing the departure of the aforementioned four players, FL also bid farewell to coach Liêu “Sergh” Nam Lộc, who was associated with the peak period of the 2020 VCS champions.
Many fans are extremely curious about how FL will form its roster as the VCS Winter approaches. With the positions that have left, it won’t be easy for this team to find replacements as teams are rushing to finalize contracts with players. Names that are still free agents in the transfer market, such as Levi, Slayder, etc., may be considered a bit beyond FL’s recruitment capabilities. Not to mention, they also need to find a capable coach to lead the team, first to aim for titles in the Winter tournament, and then to progress into 2022 to regain what they have lost. Some pessimists even immediately associate the situation with FL possibly preparing for disbandment.
Ahead of FL is a chaotic situation regarding personnel and perhaps even morale, as they have gone through a disastrous Summer. The time until the VCS Winter 2021 is about more than a month, and FL will have to do their utmost to avoid worse scenarios in the future.