Scuwry on 100 Thieves’ LAN performance: “We just didn’t take it that serious”

Alex "Scuwry" Scala is one of Apex Legends' biggest success stories. From the verge of homelessness, to an Apex Legends champion and signed to one of the most prestigious organisations in all of esports.

100 Thieves are having a strong Pro League, and are in a strong position to qualify for the Split 2 Playoffs. They were very disappointing in London in February, failing to reach the finals.

esports.gg sat down with Scuwry to look at his journey to date, their performance in London and the state of Apex Legends.

Most Apex Legends fans will have first been introduced to Scuwry back in November 2020. Faced with the prospect of losing his home, he reached out to the Apex community for help.

The community rallied around Scuwry and his family, gifted subscriptions and donations poured in. Both from his fellow competitors and general Apex fans as a whole.

This allowed Scuwry to keep competing. He would go on to then win the 2021 ALGS Championship and later join 100 Thieves.

"[100 Thieves have] supported me a lot, they're the reason that I was able to move out and move out of my grandparents’ basement after losing our house originally. If it wasn't for having the income from 100 Thieves I would still be stuck in a pretty bad situation. If I was stuck in that situation I would not be able to compete the way I do today."

But just how much of a difference has this made to Scuwry's career as a competitor?

"I would say it's a major difference, back when I was in the basement I shared a room with my brother and my grandparents always came down. I had family over constantly and it was hard to focus on the game the way I do now and there was all those distractions in the background. Not only that, my teammates could always hear people talking in the background while we were in the middle of a Pro League day."

100 Thieves struggled in the recent ALGS Split 1 Playoffs in London. They finished 23rd, failing to make finals. For Scuwry, a big part of their struggles came down to preparation.

"For us a big part of it was preparing for the event. When we all got there we weren't in the right mindsets. We kinda just showed up to play. Just play like it was our job. At the actual event it didn't feel like any of us were wanting to be there at the time. I feel like that was just a combination of bad attitudes and, I don't know that word for it... but we just weren't prepared for a big LAN the way we were as a team for London. We just didn't take it that serious and it kind of showed when we got to the event."

Evidence of this lack of preparation was visible in 100 Thieves travel schedule. They arrived from the US just the day before the event started.

"Yeah that was also another factor. Onmuu almost missed the first day of Playoffs completely because of his flights. Texas had a big storm and they were cancelling all the flights and he almost didn't make it. You have other teams like XSET and TSM that did really well but they had a bootcamp setup there already in Europe a week before the event. We got there a day before we had to play after all being up for 30 hours 20 hours and we were jetlagged."

Jet lag hugely impacted 100 Thieves performance according to Scuwry.

"We basically got off travelling for 20-30 hours, we got to our hotels, we checked in for the event, slept for like six hours and then the next day we just had to play."

With a spot at the next LAN essentially secured for 100 Thieves, they are planning a different approach for the next in person event.

"Our attitudes and schedules are completely different now. We've changed a lot, we have a good chance of taking home a trophy this time around and we also have a bootcamp setup for this next LAN, so our schedules will be set for having no jetlag. We have our workaround this time, and I feel like thats the big thing we didn't get last time"

The quality, and frequency, of scrims has been a huge debate for Apex Legends teams for years. Recently, there has been renewed complaints about how teams approach practice. 100 Thieves feel that regardless of the quality, scrims do help them prepare for an event.

"So for us, we are a team that the more we get to practice together the better we feel for gameday. Scrims recently haven't been the greatest, either teams not showing up because of realm they all wanna play realm. A lot of teams are missing out on practice including us, it's affecting the entire scene. And in terms of or like international scrims, once Pro League is finished I feel like a lot of teams are going to be unprepared because of the lack of scrims and the lack of quality in scrims. It's going to be a big meta change for International Scrims because all the regions have different metas and no one is really prepared for that yet."

100 Thieves are the Unicorn of North American Apex Legends. They are the only team to have featured three Mouse and Keyboard players the entire split. Every other team has at least one Controller player. Does being the only team without a controller influence how Scuwry and 100 Thieves approach their ALGS matches?

"Not at all. Vax and Onmuu complain about it a lot. I think controller is overrated for competitive Apex. I don't think you actually need a controller player, I just think its the big topic that everyone has 'copium' towards for losing a fight. But, every time we lose fights and stuff it's not because we don't have a controller player it's because we made a mistake or were out of position or we took a really bad fight. It's never come down to we win that if we have a controller player."

When pressed on why teams seem obsessed with recruiting Controller Players, Scuwry was firm in his response.

"I just think that a lot of them are close minded and think that they need the controller player."

Some teams have simply swapped an existing player to controller. The most notable being TSM's ImperialHal, but other big names such as Frexs have also made the swap. However, 100 Thieves have never considered swapping, or signing, a controller player according to Scuwry.

"Like I said, we've always been a team that doesn't think that controllers are needed. So, when we were looking for new third back when we picked Vax up we just wanted someone who'd fit in the team chemistry vibes wise. Someone we could work with, play with, and just have fun with. Just like teammates and a friend rather than just this AI turret that everyone else wants on their team."

100 Thieves are known for their good vibes and amusing banter during games. One recent post on Twitter revealed how they find a way to have fun and relax even during stressful ALGS Pro League games.

"Well we think that a big part of competing, in Apex at least, is enjoying it, and obviously we aren't being silly and goofy 24/7 while we're competing. Like that clip we saw posted on twitter, we had downtime in the match, we were just sitting there, nothing was happening. Nothing was going to happen, we recognized that and we were just letting off steam a little bit and just goofing off having fun. Because, at the end of the day, they are videogames even though they are professional. If you're not enjoying it you're not going to play well."

Scuwry also thinks that this is something other teams don't do very well. There can be a lot of tension in several teams communication while they compete. So could other teams benefit from better vibes?

"Oh yeah definitely 100% because if you're not enjoying it, if you're just getting heated at each other you're just going to make each other play worse."

100 Thieves sit in fifth overall currently, with one more game week to play before the Regional Finals. Simulations on Reddit give them a pretty healthy 97.1% chance of qualifying for LAN. Essentially, barring a freak disaster involving several teams, 100 Thieves will be at LAN.

Despite this success, Scuwry is not satisfied with their performance so far,

"I mean it could have been a lot better. Not last weeks play day, but the one before that where we placed 16th, that one wasn't really a good show or a good look for us. We all kinda had a bad day. Getting on, we could kinda tell the vibes weren't really there, like I felt terrible, Onmuu said his comms were not the greatest, Vax wasn't in the right mindset either. We kinda got on and we didn't prepare for Pro League that day and we just weren't in the right mental and we played badly."

"If you ever listen to the comms like we weren't goofing off and having a good time. It was just kind of monotone and we just kinda got sh*t on the whole tourney. But, the whole split we've been overall, playing good, were in 5th right now. It could be worse but it could also be better. But, I think from here on out we hit. After the 16th place we got we did a big vod review, we looked at a lot of stuff, we figured out a lot of things so it was a productive day at the end. And I think that we'll do great moving forward."

The prize for success in this ALGS Pro League Split is the same as the last. A chance to play for a share of $1million in person in London. 100 Thieves are using their poor showing in London as a motivator this split.

"After that day when we all were on the plane ride back home we were all just like sh*t, we're just on a plane ride in our thoughts thinking, that really sucked, we don't want to experience that again."

While 100 Thieves are having success in the ALGS Pro League, there is a fairly significant weakness in their play. They have a large differential between their performances on Worlds Edge and Storm Point. Averaging 4.67 points per game on Storm Point, but 7.58 on Worlds Edge.

"It's something that we have been actively working on for a while now and it's just kind of hard. Our Storm Point, the way we play it just isn’t right. Two days ago, or the fith playday was significantly better because we did that big vod review and we did fix some things. But, our Storm Point definitely needs work. I don’t know why it's so bad but it just is. Our World's Edge is great, I feel like we've perf-... almost perfected it. We just need to fix a couple of things and become the best with it and we'll be really good on World's Edge. Storm Point is rough right now. It's slowly getting better, but it is rough."

However, despite acknowledging their weakness on Storm Point Scuwry says that 100 Thieves are not letting this impact their confidence.

"It’s just how the games play out. We don't go into storm point maps thinking that we're going to do bad. It's a fresh series. It's a fresh day. We're just going to play it and see how it goes. We can't judge how the matches are going to go before they even happen so it does not affect our confidence in the slightest."

Apex has received it's fair share of criticisms from the pro community over the last few months. Audio issues, the ranked system and legends such as Seer often illicit loud and frequent complaints on Twitter and Twitch. While the recent issues with no audio on bullets seems to be fixed, several other complaints are not yet being addressed. Seer has long been a very unpopular legend with pro players.

"I think it's a very unhealthy meta, just because of the seer, but it is better than the last one in my opinion, with the Seer Horizon stuff. For me Seer Horizon was just an ability dump, you would go up to a fight and whoever pressed their ults first would just win the fight."

"Now it's not as bad as that every team just has a fighting chance, you’re not just getting ability dumped. But using Cat wall and Seer ulting and shooting people through your wall and if they don't have their seer ult they can't do nothing its kinda not really the greatest either so. It could be a lot better. I think seer just ruins a lot of it."

There are rumours that this interaction between Seer and Catalyst is being addressed in the Season 17 update.

"Catalyst would be very good and very balanced if it wasn't for seer, same with bangalore. But it's just, seer ruins a lot of the meta right now and I don't think people truly, in the pro scene they do but in the casual player base, they don't understand how strong Seer actually is."

But what would Scuwry say to those casual players to help them understand why Seer is so controversial in ALGS?

"Its information. It's knowing your opponents every single peek. Not only that, it's also the combination with Catalyst. If I were to take some casual players, go into the firing range and Seer Cat wall them and just destroy them through that, they would kind of see the point I'm making. But they don't see that in ranked, they don't see it in pubs so they don't understand."

"A lot of casual players understand how easy seer the game makes for them, especially newer players when they don't know how to play the game they just have wallhacks on everybody. Makes fighting very easy, you don't have to information gather you know what angle to take its all kind of hand fed to you which is why I think it's terrible."

Seer and Catalyst are more popular in North America than in every region besides APAC South. The meta always shifts before international events, as regions adapt to each others playstyles. But will North America have to change before LAN?

"I think they’re going to have to switch to what we're playing. Cat Seer is only countered by Cat Seer or Gibby where you can throw a bubble down and protect yourself from getting shot through a wall. But, when Bangalore is strong as she is you’re going to need a Seer in your team at the bare minimum so a lot of teams are going to switch to Seer Cat, if not seer Bangalore. I don't think these teams are going to keep playing Crypto Wattson into Catalyst Seer teams."

Seeing Scuwry and 100 Thieves firmly adhering to the meta is somewhat of a surprise. They have a history of innovating, or simply defying metas. This is the squad that started the Caustic, Gibby, Valkyrie meta. They also were one of the very few teams to commit to Wattson, Newcastle, Valkyrie back in the ALGS Championship too. So, why aren't 100 Thieves still innovating?

"The current meta is just too oppressive, it's hard to try other comps when it's mostly, when Seer is in meta he ruins a lot of creativity for teams because the only way to counter a Seer is to play Seer. If you don't have Seer against Seer, the fight is going to end so fast. And a lot of teams are going to realise that very quickly."

When there is a lot of frustrating aspects in the game, it can be hard to stay motivated and work hard. ImperialHal recently announced that he is stepping back from Apex for these reasons. How does Scwury maintain his focus and motivation?

"It’s just wanting it, we know if we stop playing the game right now because of the state it's in we're going to fall behind and that's something none of us want. Although it may be a terrible point in Apex right now in terms of where the game is, if we stop playing then by the time things are fixed we're going to be behind. We just gotta grind through the bad times of the game, we've done it before we'll do it again. We just have to stay on top of our game."

100 Thieves, with LAN essentially secured, will now focus on maintaining that focus and motivation over the next couple of months, preparing for the ALGS Split 2 Playoffs in London in July.

For full ALGS Pro League results, check out our ALGS Score hub here.

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