That win makes it seven out of eight for GAM Esports against Team Whales.
The first series of the second round of the Play-In Stage was an all-VCS showdown that saw GAM Esports triumph over its fellow countrymen, Team Whales once more to secure its spot in the Swiss stage of Worlds 2023. GAM's 3-1 victory over Whales was their second best-of-five win over their fellow countrymen with the first being the VCS Dusk grand finals.
With that win, GAM is the only team that has qualified for the Swiss stage of Worlds 2023. This makes the VCS the only representative that does not make up the four major regions in League of Legends: LCK, LPL, LCS, and LEC. The all-VCS showdown was always going to be an electrifying series, which could only see one of two representatives from the same region qualify.
In the first match, GAM showcased just why they are the undisputed champions of the VCS with a dominant performance over Whales. The 'Xayah-Rakan' combo was put to great effect once again at Worlds as GAM displayed great chemistry. Nguyễn "Palette" Hải Trung was a constant threat across the map from start to finish while Linh Vương "Slayder" Nguyễn was more than able to deal massive damage in the late game with Xayah.
However, Whales were not going to be undone as they came back swinging in the second game. And it was Trần "BeanJ" Văn Chính on Viego who went to work on GAM by contributing nine of his team's 20 kills. Nguyễn Võ "Sparda" Anh HoàngIn also had a great game on K'Sante with five kills, zero deaths, and eight assists. Whales' dominance was evident from the get-go considering they held GAM to just three kills the whole match.
With the series now tied, it was GAM who would take lead once more in the third match in what was a tight and rigid game. Neither team was giving each other much in terms of advantage or momentum as the gold graph barely change much for the first 20 minutes. But all that changed the moment Slayder came online, who got 11 of his team's 24 kills.
The fourth and final game of the series delivered the perfect ending to a rematch of the VCS Dusk grand final. GAM took a strong lead towards the mid-game but Whales managed to mitigate the damage soon after with some key objectives like two drakes in a row. And after playing Xayah for three games a row, Slayder showed just why he's more than a one-trick pony with a clutch performance on Kai'Sa with eight kills and a sole death.
