Vikings Esports
GameLeague of Legends
FoundedNovember 2016 (2016-11)
Folded25 November 2023 (2023-11-25)
Based inHo Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Head coachNguyễn "Ren" Văn Trọng
General managerNguyễn "Grandon" Vũ Đôn
Partners
  • BAM Energy
  • Dashing Shampoo
  • WeScan
Websitewww.vikingsesports.com

Vikings Esports[n 1] is a Vietnamese professional League of Legends team competing in the Vietnam Championship Series (VCS). It was founded in 2016 as Young Generation. The team was crowned VCS champions twice, and qualified for the World Championship in 2017,[1] 2018,[2] and 2022,[3] as well as the Mid-Season Invitational in 2019 and 2022. Vikings Gaming acquired and rebranded the team from Saigon Buffalo to Viking Esports in 2023.

History

On 18 May 2018, Young Generation rebranded to Phong Vũ Buffalo after agreeing to a sponsorship deal with Phong Vũ, a major computer company in Vietnam. The team dominated in its first split in the VCS, losing only one series to EVOS Esports and one to GIGABYTE Marines, ending with a series record of 12 wins and 2 losses in the 2018 VCS Summer Split. This placement secured them a spot in finals of the VCS 2018 Summer Playoffs, where they defeated Cube Adonis 3–1 and qualified for the 2018 World Championship.[4][5]

Because of EVOS Esports' placement at the 2018 Mid-Season Invitational, Vietnam was given a spot in the main event at the 2018 League of Legends World Championship,[6] allowing Phong Vũ Buffalo to avoid the need to qualify through the play-in stage. For the group stage, Phong Vũ Buffalo was drawn into Group A, along with the Afreeca Freecs, the Flash Wolves, and G2 Esports.[7] The team ended the group stage with 2 win and 4 losses, failing to qualify for the knockout stage.[8]

Phong Vũ Buffalo placed 1st in the 2019 VCS Spring Split regular season, with a record of 13 wins and 1 loss. This directly qualified the team for the finals, where they defeated EVOS Esports 3–1 to qualify for the 2019 Mid-Season Invitational as Vietnam's representative.

Phong Vũ Buffalo was placed in Group A of the first round of the 2019 Mid-Season Invitational play-in stage, along with Turkish team 1907 Fenerbahçe, Australian team Bombers, and Argentine team Isurus Gaming.[9][10] The team ended the group round robin with a record of 4 wins and 2 losses, tying 1907 Fenerbahçe for 1st and forcing a tiebreaker match, which 1907 Fenerbahçe lost. Phong Vũ Buffalo's victory qualified them for the second round of the play-in stage,[11] where they lost 0–3 to Team Liquid.[12] This result forced Phong Vũ Buffalo to play in a third round against Vega Squadron, who they defeated 3–2 in a close series, securing themselves a spot in the main event.[13] Phong Vũ Buffalo placed last in the group stage of the main event with a 2–8 record, failing to advance to the knock-out stage.

On 31 May 2019, the organization announced it was renaming to Dashing Buffalo to reflect a change in its sponsorship, with Dashing Shampoo becoming its primary sponsor.[14]

Dashing Buffalo renamed to Saigon Buffalo on 26 May 2020 to reflect its partnership with the Saigon Heat.[15]

In November 2022, the South Korean esports-focused think tank JUEGO signed a deal to acquire Saigon Buffalo,[16] but the deal fell through.

Saigon Buffalo was renamed to Vikings Esports after the 2023 season.

Current roster

Vikings Esports League of Legends roster
PlayersCoaches
Role Handle Name Nationality
Top Hasmed Lâm Huỳnh Gia Huy Vietnam
Jungle Bean J Trần Văn Chính Vietnam
Mid Froggy Bùi Văn Minh Hải Vietnam
Bot Shogun Nguyễn Văn Huy Vietnam
Support Taki Đinh Anh Tài Vietnam
Jungle RiBell Substitute player Trần Hữu Duy Vietnam
Mid Richard Substitute player Nguyễn Hoàng Phú Vietnam
Head coach

Nguyễn "Ren" Văn Trọng

Assistant coach(es)

Trần "Ciel" Tiến Thịnh

Legend:
  • (I) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • Substitute player Substitute
  • Injured Injury / Illness
  

Tournament results

Placement Event Final result (W–L)
Qualified VCS A 2017 Spring Promotion 2–0 (against Cherry Gaming)
2nd VCS A 2017 Spring 10–2
2nd VCS A 2017 Spring Playoffs 0–3
2nd VCS A 2017 Summer 10–4
2nd VCS A 2017 Summer Playoffs 0–3
2nd GPL 2017 Summer 3–2 (against Ascension Gaming)
17th–20th 2017 World Championship 0–3 (against Team WE)
4th VCS 2018 Spring 8–6
4th VCS 2018 Spring Playoffs 1–3 (against GIGABYTE Marines)
1st VCS 2018 Summer 12–2
1st VCS 2018 Summer Playoffs 3–1 (against Cube Adonis)
13th–16th 2018 World Championship 2–4
1st VCS 2019 Spring 13–1
1st VCS 2019 Spring Playoffs 3–1 (against EVOS Esports)
6th 2019 Mid-Season Invitational 2–8 (main event)
3rd Rift Rivals 2019 LCK-LPL-LMS-VCS 0–3 (against LPL)
4th VCS 2019 Summer 8–6
4th VCS 2019 Summer Playoffs 0–3 (against Lowkey Esports)
6th VCS 2020 Spring 5–9
2nd 2020 Pulsefire Cup 1–3 (against GAM Esports)
7th VCS 2020 Summer 3–11
Qualified VCS 2021 Spring Promotion 3–1 (against V Gaming)
2nd VCS 2021 Spring 10–4
2nd VCS 2021 Spring Playoffs 1–3 (against GAM Esports)
5th VCS 2021 Winter 6–8
2nd 31st SEA Games, Vietnam qualifier 1–3 (against GAM Esports)
2nd VCS 2022 Spring 9–5
2nd VCS 2022 Spring Playoffs 1–3 (against GAM Esports)
6th 2022 Mid-Season Invitational 2–8
3rd VCS 2022 Summer 8–6
2nd VCS 2022 Summer Playoffs 0–3 (against GAM Esports)
19–20th 2022 World Championship 1–3 (against MAD Lions)

Notes

  1. ↑ Formerly known as:
    • Young Generation (November 2016 – 18 May 2018)
    • Phong Vũ Buffalo (18 May 2018 – 31 May 2019)
    • Dashing Buffalo (31 May 2019 – 25 May 2020)
    • Saigon Buffalo

References

  1. ↑ "Young Generation | LoL Esports". www.lolesports.com. LoL Esports. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  2. ↑ "Worlds 2018: Meet the Teams". na.leagueoflegends.com. LoL Esports. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  3. ↑ Kelly, Michael (31 August 2022). "Saigon Buffalo become first team from Vietnam to qualify for League Worlds since 2019". Dot Esports. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  4. ↑ "2018 World Championship group draw results". cybersport.com. Cybersport. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  5. ↑ "PVB, G-Rex qualify for World Championship". Gwinnett Prep Sports. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  6. ↑ "World Championship 2018 | About". www.lolesports.com. LoL Esports. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  7. ↑ Erzberger, Tyler (14 October 2018). "Phong Vũ Buffalo's Naul: '[We can] get out of groups'". ESPN. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  8. ↑ Chouadria, Adel (15 October 2018). "Phong Vu Buffalo blow Worlds 2018 Group A open despite elimination". cybersport.com. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  9. ↑ Amos, Andrew (23 April 2019). "Here are the groups for the MSI 2019 play-in stage". Dot Esports. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  10. ↑ Ridgely, Brandon (28 April 2019). "MSI 2019 Play-In Stage breakdown: Group A". RealSport. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  11. ↑ Leckie-Zaharic, Alex; Li, Xing (2 May 2019). "Phong Vũ Buffalo win Group A and advance to face Team Liquid at MSI 2019". Dot Esports. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
  12. ↑ Esguerra, Tyler (6 May 2019). "Impact and Jensen lead Team Liquid to a convincing sweep over Phong Vũ Buffalo at MSI 2019". Dot Esports. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  13. ↑ Leckie-Zaharic, Alex (7 May 2019). "Phong Vũ Buffalo downs Vega Squadron to head to the MSI group stage". Dot Esports. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  14. ↑ "Dashing Buffalo's Facebook post". www.facebook.com. Dashing Buffalo. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  15. ↑ Hưng, Thành (26 May 2020). "Dashing Bufffalo thay đổi tên trước mùa giải mới: Saigon Buffalo". Webthethao (in Vietnamese). Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  16. ↑ Šimić, Ivan (30 November 2022). "League of Legends team Saigon Buffalo finds new owners". Esports Insider. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
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