In yesterday’s match, GAM Esports secured a 2-1 victory over Saigon Buffalo and maintained a 1-point gap behind Cerberus Esports on the leaderboard. While winning is great, the way they achieved this result left fans feeling extremely “heartbroken”; GAM should have showcased their superiority against an opponent as inconsistent as SGB.
The concerns of GAM Esports fans began from the very first minutes of game 1, as Saigon Buffalo proactively selected a very troublesome composition with Fiddlesticks in the mid lane, hindering Dia1’s ability to lane effectively. Moreover, ADC Genza lost the first blood, and Levi died in the enemy jungle shortly after, further deteriorating the situation for GAM Esports. In fact, Kiaya in the top lane even died three times in a row, while the side lanes of GAM were completely at a disadvantage.
If it weren’t for Kiaya’s excellent Teleport and execution when he went down to the bot lane, GAM Esports might have been crushed in just 15 minutes.
The disadvantaged situation in game 1 made GAM realize that they could not afford to give up the early game to their opponents. Therefore, they completely shifted their strategy in game 2, opting for strong early-game champions like Jayce and Renekton in the solo lanes, while Levi chose a strong early gank champion, Elise, to ensure early-game power. However, they did not anticipate that Hasmed’s Kennen would perform exceptionally well in this game 2.
The skirmish at the 4th minute of the match granted Kennen 2 kills and 1 assist, while Jayce received nothing at all. Following this, Hasmed exploited this advantage to compensate for the champion disadvantage against his opponent and kept the top lane safe while demolishing the turret early.
Remember that GAM Esports’ composition in game 2 featured two Bruisers in the solo lanes: Jayce and Renekton. These champions excel in split-pushing and 1v1 duels rather than team fights. The only way for GAM to win was to create a significant lead for these two champions over the enemy solo lanes, thus applying pressure in the split-push to the opponent’s structures in the later stages, when Saigon Buffalo’s area-of-effect ultimates would come into play.
However, by allowing Kennen to get kills early, SGB’s side lanes did not fall easily, and GAM’s split-push plan gradually fell apart. They might have had the kill and gold lead, but the crucial aspect was converting that into pressure on SGB’s turrets and base, which they failed to do. And then, what had to happen eventually happened, Hasmed’s Kennen shone and brought Baron and victory to the “Red Buffalo Herd.”
Although GAM later won game 3 and the entire Bo3 series, the first two games revealed that this team had too many vulnerabilities that could be exploited. First, in Levi’s position, when he played farming jungle champions, GAM Esports’ proactive control significantly decreased. The most notable example was Levi’s Shyvana being completely outjungled in the early stages of game 1, and the impact of this champion on the lanes was non-existent.
Another weakness observed in the second game was their inability to apply pressure in the side lanes effectively. Kiaya’s Jayce had a higher CS than Hasmed but could not completely dominate his opponent and create overwhelming pressure on structures while split-pushing. GAM’s solo laners should have been able to take down SGB’s turret early; however, when the enemy’s Kennen suddenly became strong, they could not capitalize on their strengths.
Of course, GAM Esports achieved a final victory; however, they did not present the audience and VCS fans with the dominance expected from a “superior” team. Instead, their weaknesses continued to surface. The black and gold squad needs to quickly address these shortcomings because next week they will face very challenging opponents, Team Flash and Team Secret, before clashing with the current VCS “boss”—Cerberus Esports in the week after that.