Worlds 2022 Preview – New look PCS & the return of the VCS

In the fourth part of Fragster’s League of Legends Worlds 2022 preview series, we take a look at the teams representing Southeast Asia’s Pacific Championship Series (PCS) and the Vietnam Championship Series (VCS).

CTBC Flying Oyster

From starting the PCS playoffs as the fourth seed, CTBC Flying Oyster caught fire at the bet time possible to qualify for LoL’s centerpiece tournament.

Truly, the team’s emergence, which started with the team’s formation at the start of this year, capped off a riveting summer split as the reigning PCS champions PSG Talon fell at their hands. Not only that, the team dispatched Frank Esports and sixth-seeded Beyond Gaming, who enjoyed an equally stellar run in their own right.

The team features the trio of Koala, Gemini, and Mission, who last played for Machi Esports and had competed in Worlds 2020. They are followed by Rest and Atlen, both of whom have won the PCS title in their own right, thus completing an experienced lineup. Not only that, whenever CFO are in a pinch and need a jolt, they have substitute bot laner Shunn to be their catalyst.

As the PCS’ first seed, there are a flurry of expectations in addition to a wave of uncertainty for CFO on the international stage. Add that with the team’s debut appearance in Worlds, such pressure is magnified to an incredible degree.

But through CFO’s extraordinary form that helped them qualify for Worlds, in addition to some of their players already experienced this journey before, the team appears ready to lead the region to even greater heights than it had normally seen in the past.

Beyond Gaming

Another team that stepped up in the PCS was Beyond Gaming, who secured theirown ticket to Worlds as the runner-up in the summer split playoffs. Befitting its namesake, the team subverted all expectations by orchestrating a deep run in the playoffs as the sixth seed, making them one of the lowest seeds in the league to qualify for this year’s Worlds.

Of last year’s iteration that competed in Worlds, three of them (Liang, HuSha, Kino) return to lead BYG’s latest appearance. They are accompanied by mid-laner Minji and ADC Wako, players who have sought for achievements as a way to justify the long time spent for self-improvement.

Additionally, they include the PCS’ Most Improved Player in Likai as his play in the summer split helped contribute to the team’s eventual success. All these players will vie to upend the disappointment the team experienced in the end of Worlds 2021 where Maoan was removed for engaging in match-fixing schemes prior to their Play-In knockout series against Hanwha Life Esports.

Maybe this time, BYG can take matters into their own hands this time and quell the bitterness they’ve held over how last season finished unceremoniously.

GAM Esports

After three years of absence, GAM Esports has returned to the Worlds stage as the VCS’ first seed. Furthermore, on top of GAM’s qualification, this will mark the first time since 2019 that Vietnam will compete in this event as they had been sidelined by COVID-19 restrictions and travel issues.

Unlike most regions where different teams took home the league crown in each split, GAM continued its dominion over the country’s LoL scene with their dominance in the VCS. Including their recent win in the summer playoffs, GAM have won three consecutive splits (excluding 2021 Winter). Interestingly enough, the team was originally slated to compete in MSI as a result of their spring split title, but as that event overlapped with the SEA Games, they attended the latter, thus allowing Saigon Buffalo to attend instead.

While the team oversaw some lineup changes earlier in the year, its lineup has primarily stuck with the stack consisting of Kiaya, Kati, Sty1e, Bie, and longtime jungler Levi, a player most fans outside the country is well familiar with.

With that lineup considered, in addition to the majority of the team gaining a visa for entry to North America, fans are looking forward for GAM to show why they have maintained control of the VCS in the past couple of years.

Saigon Buffalo

With Vietnam having two slots for Worlds, Saigon Buffalo made their way to the event as the VCS’ second seed after dropping the VCS summer playoffs grand finals to GAM in an 0-3 clean sweep.

Despite losing to GAM in two consecutive grand finals this year, however, that shouldn’t take away the successful year SGB experienced thus far. Equipped with a young lineup whose playstyle was predicated on pouncing opponents with a rapid pace and incessant skirmishes, the team managed to crack Top 6 in MSI all the while notching wins over PSG Talon and G2. This performance, on top of them qualifying as the runner-up behind GAM, showed just how deep in talent depth VN really is and how they’ve maintained their status as one of the strongest regions in the world besides Korea, China, and Europe.

With that crucial experience of playing the best in the world during MSI under their belts, Saigon has adjusted themselves by taking a calculated approach behind their Blitzkrieg-like offense. Now, with another chance to play other regions square in their hands, SGB is ready to show a version of themselves in Worlds.

Header: PCS