Most people see the trophies.
They don’t see the skipped meals.
The homesickness.
The risk of betting on something that didn’t even look like a career yet.
In Episode 4 of GĀM Changers, I sit down with Trần Văn Cường — better known to many as Optimus. Former captain of GAM Esports. One of the pioneers of Vietnamese League of Legends.
But this episode isn’t just about gaming.
It’s about belief.
When the Odds Didn’t Make Sense
Fourteen years ago, esports in Vietnam wasn’t safe. It wasn’t stable. It wasn’t respected.
Optimus went all-in anyway.
He was there when League of Legends first arrived in Vietnam. When everything was uncertain. When there were no guarantees — only passion.
He didn’t just win titles.
He helped lay the foundation for an entire era.
The Part No One Talks About
At one point, he told me:
“When I stepped away from competition, it took me two years just to accept one thing — that I no longer belonged here.”
Six years have passed since he left the stage.
But “Cường 7 Núi” never left the hearts of fans.
In this conversation, we unpack:
- 14 years growing up with League of Legends
- The birth of GAM
- The internal conflicts no one heard about
- And the legacy he hopes to leave behind
Behind every trophy was pressure. Pain. Sacrifice that never showed up on the scoreboard.
In This Episode
- 0:00 Introducing Optimus, "Cường 7 Núi"
- 2:47 A hard childhood, and League of Legends as the way out
- 4:08 2012: League of Legends arrives in Vietnam, and one of the country's first salaried players
- 6:51 Moving to Saigon: Boba Minion and Saigon Jokers
- 9:34 The birth of GAM: from Boba Marines to Gigabyte Adonis Marines
- 11:13 All in on 2017, and MSI 2017 in Brazil
- 22:13 Begging for scrims, and how GAM built its strategies together
- 31:54 Why he left GAM: the conflict no one heard about
- 52:40 Three pieces of advice for GAM in 2026
- 55:21 What esports gave him, what it cost him, and life after retiring
- 1:01:39 Legacy, and advice to young players
In His Words
On the 2017 bet (21:40):
"We'd made up our minds: if 2017 didn't work out, we were done. If GAM didn't make Worlds or MSI that year, the team would have broken up."
On MSI 2017 in Brazil, facing Virtus.pro and its crowd (18:42):
"The louder the crowd got, the less pressure we felt. We turned an arena into a library, and then we turned their fans into GAM fans."
On how GAM played (28:25):
"GAM's strategies were never the credit of one person. They belonged to the whole team."
That is what we mean at GAM by "we, not me."
On the conflict he had never talked about (36:39):
"This has never been shared before. Tinikun even thought about kicking Levi and finding a new jungler."
On retiring (1:00:02):
"I officially retired in October 2019, and it wasn't until 2021 that it was clear in my head that I no longer belonged there."
On GAM today (41:41):
"To this day, GAM is still my pride."
On legacy (1:04:04):
"One day people may say I won once and Kati won thirty times. That's fine. I just need to have been part of it."
Why You Should Watch
This episode is for anyone:
- Building something risky
- Chasing something uncertain
- Questioning whether to keep going
Because sometimes the smartest move doesn’t look logical.
It looks crazy.
Until it works.
🎥 Episode 4 of GĀM Changers is now live on YouTube.
Go watch the full conversation.
And if you’re betting on yourself right now, this one’s for you!
