VGA Hope; Coach and player for rookies in his team (Source: VETV FB)

Rookie players, we all love them isn’t it? When we think about rookies, a lot of topics come onto our minds. Team dynamics, special champion picks, aggressive or more calculated? All things to take in consideration whenever a new talent arises from the ashes. Taking rookie talent could be a risk factor too, as not every rookie talent can surpass the former player in question. However, to find new talent, you have to take gambles in order to find the next player that could up your team. We in the VCS do like to take little risks, as our region has fostered many various talents through the span of the VCS with roster shuffles back and forth.

In this article we will take a closer look onto three rookies that made their name in the VCS!

Rookies and VCS, why are there so many in Vietnam?

Why aren’t their foreign imports instead?

So to answer this question, we have to delve deeper into not only the VCS itself, but Vietnam as a whole. In Vietnam is it very difficult to obtain a visa in order to work in Vietnam as a foreigner. By the time your visa gets approved, the VCS split is almost done and it has zero to come and play in Vietnam.

The second major problem is that a lot of Vietnamese players don’t speak English properly. The imported player in question has to learn both Vietnamese and English (if they’re from a non-English speaking country) in order to communicate properly with each other. Communication is a very important aspect to have, in game and out of game.

The third major problem is that it is just unattractive to work, live and play in Vietnam as a foreign League of Legends player. The salaries are way lower than any other competition in the world then let’s say the TCL, CBLOL and PCS. After all, the competition is interesting if you have Vietnamese ethnics, which makes the previous points negligible.

So because of these points, the VCS have a lot of rookies?

Yes! The disadvantages of not having imports does balance out of having many rookie talents that play in the VCS. Another thing that helped the VCS tremendously is the promotion/relegation system that showcases great talents from the secondary VCS B competition. A lot of talent has made their way through that competition. The VCS B competition has been a great tradition and I personally really hope that Vietnam doesn’t change their competition format.

The rookies that deserve more recognition!

PHT

VGA PHT (Source: VETV FB)

Name: Phạm Hoàng Thành

Team: V Gaming Adonis

Position: Mid lane

Specialty: Aggressiveness, diverse champion pool, playmaker.

When people were watching the VCS promotion / relegation tournament, the mid laner of V Gaming Adonis was constantly making insane plays and it felt like it was the enemies nightmare on how to deal with his aggressive playstyle. PHT is the type of guy that only has one mode and that is going forward. We were also wondering if his playstyle would alter against tougher opponents, but no it hasn’t. However, PHT has been a major contributor to a couple wins for V Gaming Adonis despite them currently being two and nine in game score. The mid laner is showing off on what he can do on a struggling team, would he be able to do the same performances with a stronger team?

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Bonus Fail:

Kati

FL Kati (Source: VETV FB)

Name: Đặng Thanh Phê

Team: Team Flash

Position: Mid lane

Specialty: Mages, Controlling the pace of the map.

It was a huge task to accomplish for Kati, as he had to replace Vietnams well renowned Optimus. As the first few weeks of the VCS has ended, people started to have more and more faith in Kati. People recognize that he could compete toe to toe with any other VCS mid laner. It was easy, playing his comfort mages in the middle lane. Team Flash was well oiled and could contest for the number one spot in the VCS. But somehow, their playstyle suddenly changed and Kati was off his usual mage-duty as he has been put onto more fighter-style champions such as Lucian and Renekton. His performances since then have been dreadful. When Kati does play his mages, it feels like the team has more comfort and Team Flash knows what they are supposed to do. We hope that he regains his form, as he had a beautiful first half of the split. And please Team Flash, let Kati play mages, that’s all I’m asking for.

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Bonus Fail:

Froggy

FTV Froggy (Source: VETV FB)

Name: Bùi Hải Minh

Team: FTV Esports

Position: Mid lane

Specialty: Scientist, unpredictability.

This guy is crazy. I’m not even kidding. Froggy plays the weirdest stuff on the mid lane. In the VCS B competition he has played things such as Shyvana and Rammus mid lane. But that’s not all. On his current team FTV Esports he managed to get a win on ghost/heal Galio against Akali. However, due to the shortage of games played on the highest level, we don’t have a good measurement on how well he performs against other VCS mid laners. We have to say that his crazy playstyle is perfectly suited for a team such as FTV Gaming who are desperate for wins. Unpredictability is exactly what a bottom-tier team needs, and it could shake up some standings thanks to Froggy. As an avid VCS viewer, Froggy is for sure an entertaining player to watch with those crazy picks!

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The future

The rookie talent seems to be getting bigger and bigger every year, which is really exciting to think about. Some teams even have trainee’s and promising substitutes that make their debuts in the VCS. Who knows, maybe VCS expands their competition (from eight to ten) due to having too many talents. But what we for sure know is that the promotion / relegation system is the perfect system for rookies to shine their way into the VCS. It is the perfect playground for talents to foster and scout.

Watch our rookie talent! Watch the next VCS match!

So you want to watch the next VCS match? Join us on the live broadcast on either the official Vietnamese broadcast or the English broadcast! Starting next Friday on 11AM CET, the first match that will be played is going to be Team Secret versus. EVOS Esports.

You can also join our VCS English Discord to discuss even more about VCS.

I hope you had a wonderful read about Three rookies that deserve more recognition, and on every Tuesday I will post an new article which features various things about the VCS as well. So stay tuned!