With almost 300,000 subscribers on YouTube and more than 1,200 videos on his channel as of writing, Teamfight Tactics streamer Em Chè commands a large audience.
Many of his videos have more than 100,000 views, highlighting new tech, creative builds, enterprising strategies, and epic comebacks. As a fulltime streamer, you can also watch him live on YouTube most days of the week.
Starting out with nothing, he’s made his way to the top of the content creation ladder in the region. But this Vietnamese streamer is not done — he wants to do more for the the local and global TFT community.
Speaking to ONE Esports in an exclusive interview, Em Chè talks about how he became a fulltime TFT streamer and content creator, what he brings to the table, and what more he aspires for the TFT community.
How Teamfight Tactics streamer Em Chè came to be who he is today
Like the majority of TFT players, Em Chè started off playing League of Legends. The day Riot Games’ strategic multiplayer auto-battler game was released in the client on 26 June 2019, his friend invited him for a game, and he hasn’t stopped playing since.
The nature of League of Legends requires players to have a high APM and fast reaction time. In contrast to the MOBA, TFT requires the “mindset of playing chess with a little bit of luck,” says Em Chè, who enjoys the competitiveness that in-game placements evoke in players.
He started participating in large-scale local TFT competitions in Vietnam, and eventually qualified for a grand final. The manager from a pro esports team took notice, and invited him to be part of their organization.
During that period, Em Chè learned how to livestream and build up his image. This process challenged him in new, unforeseen ways.
“When I was a ‘normal player,’ I play the game for myself for fun and entertainment. But as a streamer, I have more responsibility. I have to do the job, I have to know more about the updates, research more about the game, and create a positive effect on people who watch my stream,” Em Chè told ONE Esports.
In the early days of streaming, when viewers showed that they did not enjoy the stream, he would feel stressed out and sad. This is why he’s always striving to do his best every time he goes live: he aims to create a new experience to keep things fresh each time, a personal challenge he sets for himself.
“Sometimes I feel down and face struggles in my personal life, causing me to feel stressed,” Em Chè elaborated. “But I still have to livestream and be happy and positive with my viewers. I wasn’t used to this at first, but overtime I practiced till I achieved my desired result.”
At the start of this journey, he didn’t think he would grow to become this big. He thought a lot about the TFT community that surrounded him and aimed to contribute valuable insights to them through his streams. Just like TFT, he also thinks he got a bit lucky.
The X factor: what makes Em Chè different from other Teamfight Tactics streamers out there
There are many TFT streamers to choose from, yet Em Chè continues to be a popular choice among Vietnam players.
He believes that there’s two main reasons why viewers return to watch him. Firstly, he has a vibe, a talent for bringing happiness to viewers because of his personality. He constantly strives to be positive, cheerful, and friendly, which is why followers continue to support him.
The second key reason, he believes, is his deep knowledge of the game and how he climbs rank. By putting himself out there, his audience gains a lot of game knowledge, which is useful for their own rank climb. This is especially true when a new set releases, where he and viewers “quickly get use to the flow and the meta,” learning and adapting together.
How Em Chè appeals to different types of TFT players in Vietnam
Vietnam players are well-known to be highly competitive. During TFT Set 11, Vietnam made up over 67% of the total player base of APAC (excluding South Korea). What’s more, over 40% of total players in Vietnam play ranked queues, Riot Games shared with ONE Esports.
Competitive players is one of two categories that Em Chè would group Vietnam players in. These type of players play to win rather than for fun. They will try all sorts of strategies and do anything to finish in top four.
Even though there are players like this on every server, what makes Vietnam unique is its position in Southeast Asia. Despite geographic and language barriers in the region where major servers are independently located in the Philippines, a combined Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia, and another in Vietnam, many serious TFT players create accounts on the Vietnam server because their player population is bigger. At the same time, competitive levels are higher here because they have more local ongoing tournaments.
Competitive players are so invested that they made up 82% of viewership for the APAC Tactician’s Cup #2. 90% of viewership for the APAC Tactician’s Cup #1 also came from Vietnam, according to Riot Games.
The second group of Vietnam players are the opposite, says Em Chè. They play with friends and see TFT as a form of entertainment without caring about the result or rank.
Comparing TFT playstyles in Vietnam with China
Vietnam is a powerhouse in Southeast Asia in Teamfight Tactics and League of Legends. Within Asia, players also look to China and South Korea for brewing new tech.
Em Chè himself watches Chinese streams to expand his gameplay knowledge. He recognizes that due to their sheer number of players, their community is very vibrant — they exchange ideas and come up with counter strategies quickly, exploring the best combos for the prevailing TFT meta. On top of that, China hosts high level competitions with substantial prize pools.
They also tend to approach TFT differently. Em Chè noticed that China players tend to take it slow in the beginning rounds, focusing their resources on end-game. In contrast, Vietnam players tend to “hit very hard at the beginning of the match,” and tend to be weaker from mid to end game.
Professional TFT Vietnam player ASTA1 caught his eye recently, for he has an usual playstyle where it’s difficult for competitors to predict what he’ll do next. He believes he has high potential to do well in upcoming tournaments.
Looking to the future: growing, contributing, and giving back to the TFT community
Inspired by what he’s seen in China’s TFT community, Em Chè wants to do more things to contribute to the Vietnam TFT community by creating discussion groups where players exchange ideas and topics on the game and its esports.
He believes that Vietnam TFT players are strong, and have the skill and knowledge to play the game at a high level. However, what’s currently lacking is the exchange of opinions — he would like to cultivate interactions and “long-lasting relationships between players,” so that everyone can grow and be better at the game, which in turn elevates the overall skill and mindset when playing TFT.
Overall, he hopes players globally will continue to enjoy TFT because “the game is very good,” as it is both entertaining and strategic at the same time. Desiring to see more events like TFT Vegas Open, it’s during these events that streamers and players get a chance to dive into the heart of the game and have meaningful interactions together.
READ MORE: Exclusive: The future of TFT won’t follow LoL or Valorant, according to Global Head of Esports
