With VCS continuing to be absent, Worlds 2021 will officially take place with 22 teams participating. Along with that, the tournament format has also been changed (similar to Worlds 2020) to accommodate the number of teams.
In light of the constant changes to the format over the past two years, some voices from the community have questioned why Riot Games didn’t handle it more “simply” by replacing the 2 VCS teams with other names while keeping the format at 24 teams? Here is the answer to this question.
Respect for the Vietnamese Audience
When Worlds 2020 took place with only 22 teams participating, and then MSI also lacked 1 slot due to the continuous absence of the VCS, the international League of Legends community raised quite a few opinions that Riot Games should create opportunities for other regions to replace the VCS, specifically by granting an additional slot to LCS, LEC, PCS, or a wild-card region with impressive achievements.
However, Riot Games did not do so, and one of the biggest reasons is their respect for the VCS region specifically and the Vietnamese League of Legends community in general. First, it’s important to understand that these opinions are in the minority and do not represent the voice of other regions, even if this idea is beneficial for them.
Rogue was the first (and almost the only) team to publicly express support for the VCS teams upon hearing the news that we could not participate in Worlds 2021. This team has a close relationship with many Vietnamese players, and the tradition of LEC teams has always maintained a good rapport with the VCS. Another reason is that Rogue benefited from the VCS’s absence at Worlds, as they were granted direct entry from the Play-in stage to the group stage.
That is why the European representatives sent their encouragement to the VCS, as those who were given opportunities from the hands of Vietnamese teams, they wanted to show respect to their unfortunate colleagues on the other side of the globe.
Riot is clearly aware that the VCS’s absence at Worlds is an issue beyond professional competence. If it does not pertain to professional matters, then there is no reason to lose 2 slots in this tournament – an achievement earned through the sweat and tears of an entire generation of players and those working in esports over many years.
The VCS can only relinquish its slot at Worlds to another tournament if their performance declines and does not correspond to the status of an independent region. In the case of not participating, all professional assessments of Vietnamese League of Legends are baseless. And as a region with over a million Riot Games customers, a region that has been present in the earliest tournaments of League of Legends, an independent region with superior skill compared to other wild-card areas, the VCS deserves this respect.
Would the Replacement Teams Meet the Professional Standards?
The allocation of slots to participate in Worlds for each region is evaluated based on the performance of those regions. This is the clearest measure to distribute participation rights in the tournament. For example, LPL and LCK have 4 slots at Worlds 2021 because they are the reigning champions of MSI and Worlds, respectively.
Similarly, in the past, Vietnam had 1 slot directly into the group stage and 1 slot in the Play-in round because we could not compare with the major regions, but we were far superior to other wild-card regions.
The question arises: if this allocation is shuffled, would teams like “Turkey’s 2nd seed”, “Western Europe’s 4th seed”… be able to meet the required professional standards?
In the 2020 Worlds season, Riot’s first application of the “4th seed” format, granting opportunities to MAD Lions and LGD Gaming, created a relatively negative effect. When MAD was eliminated from the Play-in stage, and LGD struggled to make it into the group stage and then went home early.
Even the top two regions in the world at that time, LEC and LPL, had their added seed teams making the audience sweat due to their poor performance. So, there is no guarantee that the emergency slots to fill the positions left by the VCS could perform better; it could even threaten to lower the professional quality of the tournament.
Time Constraints
In a different hypothetical scenario, if Riot Games truly wanted to replace the VCS with other teams, there wouldn’t be enough time to do so. As we know, the official announcement from Riot regarding the VCS’s inability to participate in Worlds 2021 was only made a few days ago, with less than a month until the tournament starts.
Before that, the chances of the VCS participating in Worlds 2021 still existed, with GAM Esports and Saigon Buffalo both receiving invitations and hastily preparing paperwork and finalizing their rosters early on.
In the month since the official announcement of the VCS’s exclusion from the tournament, no team outside of Europe could complete the immigration procedures quickly enough, while also having to undergo quarantine processes.
Furthermore, how would they even supplement this? They would have to organize tie-break matches to select a team from scratch. This is impossible and would receive a lot of backlash from fans, as some teams would suddenly benefit from their high performance in the summer split and also get the chance to participate while others might have “let go” and missed out on a golden opportunity.
It should also be emphasized that, according to recent information, GAM Esports has not yet given up hope of participating in Worlds 2021, launching the #BringVCStoWORLDS campaign. So, if Riot decided to replace VCS with another team, would that be fair? Even if GAM fails in that endeavor, they and SGB still have the right to demand to retain the spot they rightfully deserve, not just hand it over to another team involuntarily.
Conclusion
In summary, Riot Games’ decision to maintain the structure of the number of participating teams and accept the change in the tournament format due to the absence of the 2 VCS representatives is a fitting action both emotionally and logically.
A consolation for Vietnamese fans is that even though they have been absent from the international stage for the past 2 years, the VCS still holds a deep impression in the hearts of the global community. And perhaps, in response to this sentiment, the stars of Vietnamese League of Legends will surely be determined to deliver unprecedented explosive performances upon their return.
