The play-in stage of the 2021 Worlds has concluded its second day of competition, and two teams have already secured their spots in the Main Event: Cloud9 and LNG Esports. Meanwhile, the two teams that maintained their second-place positions, DetonatioN FocusMe and Hanwha Life Esports, will await their opponents in the last two BO5 matches to determine the remaining two spots for the Main Event of the highest level tournament in the League of Legends scene.
Besides the convincing victory of LNG, there were also some flaws in the gameplay of C9 and HLE, but another impressive moment on the second day of competition was an incident related to the VCS region. Specifically, in the match between Galatasaray Esports and DFM, GS’s mid-laner Bolulu showcased the Phong Vũ Buffalo logo right before the match began (at the 47-second mark).
Witnessing this image, many VCS fans were thrilled that an unexpected name, GS, was the first team to bring the VCS image to the 2021 Worlds in an official match. This can be seen as a consolation and nostalgia since the VCS has been unable to participate in two consecutive Worlds due to the pandemic.
The reason Bolulu showcased the PVB logo instead of another team can be traced back to the MSI 2019 play-in stage when PVB faced Bolulu, who was then playing for 1907 Fenerbahçe Esports. That day, FB defeated the Buffaloes from Vietnam after nearly 37 minutes of play during a match where Zeros had an unending feed, and other key players like Naul and Bigkoro could not carry the team.
On the second day of the play-in stage of the 2021 Worlds, it was a very poor performance for GS as they lost their advantage with two defeats. However, with their nostalgic gesture towards VCS, GS will surely gain more support from the Vietnamese audience in their upcoming journey at this year’s Worlds.
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