With spring playoffs coming up, we sat down with VCS specialist Clockwork to talk about the Vietnamese league and its teams.
Image Credits | Riot Games
VCS Spring Playoffs – 4-way battle
Even though VCS is considered a minor region, it’s one of the most exciting leagues to watch. Not only because they have great domestic talents, but they usually have the potential to upset big teams at international tournaments, like GAM Esports beating Top Esports at Worlds last year.
This year, VCS saw big changes to the league. The first and most important one is that Riot Games gained control as the tournament organizer, replacing Garena. The other one, instead, is the addition of two new teams to the VCS: MGN Box Esports and Team Flash have replaced the disqualified Genius Esports and AS Esports.
Given that the league is not followed as closely as major regions, it was necessary to find someone who knew all the teams, the players, and their backgrounds. For this reason, I had the chance to talk to Clockwork, a former VCS analyst/caster who is now on a break due to academic reasons.
That said, he still actively follows the Vietnamese League, and thanks to him and the contribution of the VCS English broadcast crew (Yulwei, Krincy, Beast, Mabinogi), we got a clear idea of the teams’ values coming into playoffs.
After a hectic super week, GAM Esports, Team Whales, SBTC Esports, and CERBERUS Esports are the four teams that will head over to the VCS Spring playoffs to determine who is going to represent the region at MSI.
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Sitting down with Clockwork to talk about the top VCS teams
When talking about his impressions on the league this year so far, Clockwork said that it’s “completely different from past splits, with many good players spread across the standings”.
Even though this should be great for the overall competitive level, as it will be more balanced, Clockwork doesn’t think it’s necessarily a good thing.
“The fact that GAM Esports are still at the top of the standings is a little worrying for me. I feel like they are not as strong as last year, having lost their MVP support Bie. GAM are maintaining a good level of play, playing more toward the late-game, but there is no other team in a position to contest them despite their downgrade,” he said.
GAM went undefeated in the regular split, achieving a 14-0 with a 78% win rate. For Clockwork, they are definitely the team with the highest chances of winning playoffs. That said, there is a strong 3-way fight for second place with no clear favorite.
“Team Whales were the big winners of the off-season, having picked up Bie from GAM and star jungler Killerqueen, who is known for his out-of-the-box jungle playstyle. I think of him like the VCS version of Malrang: he can pop off with some crazy plays, but also have occasional bad moments.”
Image Credits | Team Whales
With these two players on the team, Team Whales was supposed a strong contender for the title, but it took them longer than expected. Luckily, they seem to have found their groove recently, which will increase their chances of success during playoffs,” he continued.
Team Whales dominated the last week of VCS, managing to lock in second place after winning the tie-breaker against SBTC Esports.
Speaking of SBTC, Clockwork is having mixed feelings about this team, considering that the team always performed well during regular splits but choked when it really mattered. “I hope that the addition of former SBG’s coach Ren will help them fix this issue. If we’re taking a look at SGB’s current performances despite no roster changes (Saigon Buffalo finished 5th with a 6-8 record), it goes to show that Ren always has a decisive impact on the team,” he said.
Clockwork has a similar consideration for CERBERUS Esports, as they are always dropping in the second phase of the split. While he thinks jungler EGO is one of the best in the league currently, it’s worrying that he had to split games with the other jungler Draktharr.
Clockwork’s prediction for VCS Spring playoffs and considerations for MSI
When asked about his predictions for playoffs, the Italian caster wished Team Whales could make it to the finals against GAM. That said, it will be close between them and SBTC, as he thinks Ren is a great coach that will make a difference. Regardless, GAM are favored to win it all.
With that in mind, we asked Clockwork what he thinks of the VCS region as a whole and how it would fare against the other regions coming into MSI, which will take place next month. With the new format change, VCS will field one team in the play-ins stage, where they will have to compete against other wild card regions, and the second seeds from LPL, LCS, and LEC.
Image Credits | Riot Games
“If GAM ends up going to MSI, I think they might have a decent shot with most of the play-in teams. I believe that the LPL will destroy them, but aside from that, the rest of the wild card regions and second seeds from LCS and LEC are within reach. Personally, I’ve always treated the LCS and VCS at a similar level, so it will be a close fight between the two,” he said. “Considering that the LEC is currently quite messy, with new teams on the rise, there might be a scenario where the VCS can also beat LEC’s second seed,” he concluded.
Read also: LEC Spring Playoffs – Schedule, Bracket, Teams, and more
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