Buzz
The most forgettable AIC season turned out to have its reasons...
On the evening of December 10th, Bacon Time's crushing victory over the domestic champions AOG - Saigon Phantom (SGP) officially marked the end for Vietnamese teams at the AIC 2023 season. Clearly, this is a bitter and surprising result, as all three of our top contenders were halted before reaching the Quarterfinals. What's even more painful is that this AIC edition was hosted on home ground. Consequently, this disastrous outcome has left the Arena of Valor community deeply disappointed, continuously raising significant questions about AOG's form and power dynamics compared to other veteran regions.
SGP had a day to forget at AIC 2023.
Among the 4 eliminated teams, a staggering 3 are representatives from the AOG region.Needless to say, the Vietnamese gaming scene exploded upon hearing this dreadful news. Within hours, a slew of posts criticizing, condemning, and expressing outrage began flooding across various forums, large and small. It's not difficult to come across heavily derogatory comments, directly attacking young gamers for their 'unsportsmanlike' playstyle in this season. Notably, SGP and VGM - the top two contenders, whom audiences trusted to 'make things happen' against formidable opponents.
As of the moments preceding AIC 2023, SGP was still in devastating form across all domestic and international tournaments. For VGM, they were also former champions, shining stars reigning atop the AIC 2022 throne with an emotionally charged journey. Nevertheless, both 'black gold' teams were completely overshadowed, swiftly exiting GGL's tournament at an unimaginable pace.
VGM and GGL's plight worsened as they were eliminated solely due to their frequency of clashes with the 4th position.Witnessing the host team's spotless performance after the AIC 2023 Group Stage, whether one is a Mobile Legends gamer or not, the sense of regret is inevitable. Faced with the forgettable outcome, many perspectives emerged to analyze and explain why AOG faltered this year. Among them, ADC - the timeless jungle deity of Team Flash also expressed his personal opinion. He believes: 'AOG always catches up with the meta slower than other countries. But when catching up with the meta, AOG is always a strong contender for the championship.'
ADC's viewpoint is being supported by many players.Indeed, despite the nearly simultaneous release of the new update for Mobile Legends across all servers, the Vietnamese region found itself completely disadvantaged at AIC 2023. Clearly, we lagged behind our neighbors, turning hastily playing into a 'double-edged sword'; either adapting very quickly or struggling immensely to cope. Most importantly, we had to admit that AOG's form still lags far behind that of Thailand or Taiwan. Despite being harsh, if we don't learn to recognize our own shortcomings, AOG will never progress.
Despite the regret, the majority of readers had to acknowledge that the AOG region still has many significant flaws.Certainly, this failure will become an unforgettable lesson for AOG teams in the future. Hopefully, with the community's feedback, the Vietnamese region will soon return with a new image, more confident and resilient.
