100Thieves FBI talks about the team’s performance against Liquid and his individual form so far in the Split.
After five weeks of LCS Spring Split matches, 100Thieves is in the top four alongside Team Liquid, Cloud9 and FlyQuest. We are just over halfway through the Spring Split and 100Thieves still has a few more games to climb up the leaderboards.Esports.gg's Piratechnics caught up with 100Thieves' Victor "FBI" Huang onsite after their match versus Team Liquid.
Q: You guys had a loss today against Team Liquid but it was a very close game. After a match like that, does it feel worse to lose very close or is it better because you kept it on pace with one of the top teams in the League.
100Thieves FBI: Definitely, for me personally the loss feels very bad because I didn't perform on an individual level.
Regardless of whether the game was close or not, I feel like we should have won the game if I had played properly in the major teamfights. It feels pretty bad.
Q: So a bit rough when you are coming off where your individual performances are not what you expected them to be. Coming into this week, the prep you were doing against the likes of Team Liquid. Was there anything in particular that you guys had planned that you think you didn't get to show?
100Thieves FBI: Honestly, the draft was pretty unexpected. Both their bans and the first pick was a bit weird. They first picked Nautilus and we definitely were not expecting that scenario.
But I think with the draft, both had their win conditions and it was up to whichever team played better.
Q: Fair enough. Zeri was left open and ended up being picked for Hans Sama. Was that something you guys had pre-planned?
100Thieves FBI: Yeah, it was something that we had planned. And it obviously didn't work out because he played very well on the Zeri. It was just a bit unfortunate, I just played a bit poorly.
Q: There were a lot of close moments. In particular I want to call attention to that fight early on when you guys were down at the Herald and managed to get a fight. Closer really stepped up big. I think you stayed alive in the pit for a long time.
Can you talk a bit about the comms in that moment. Cause it seemed that was when when you were behind that you managed to find a really big fight that opened the game for you.
100Thieves FBI: They were on bot side at the moment that we played the Herald. So we knew that the fight was going to be good for us because they had to facecheck into our vision?
At that point I feel like my team smashed that fight to be honest. Their Gragas was just marking me. Everyone but me stayed alive and we played really well.
Q: Overall it does feel like the League this year has been more competitive than it has been. As a team that stuck together this year, you are the only one that didn't make any changes, why do you think that is?
100Thieves FBI: I'm personally not sure. Cause I can't accurately assess if the teams have got better or my individual play has got worse. I do feel like the form I am in right now is pretty bad.
So I'm working hard to try to get back to the form that I feel is acceptable. I'm not too sure if the League has got better or we've got worse. I can’t really comment on that.
Q: You talk a lot about your individual performance and how you'd like to get back to where you were. Do you feel like you have that chip on your shoulder now as a returning reigning champion or is it because you've seen yourself execute at a higher level in the LCS in particular?
100Thieves FBI: I don't really think too much about the reigning champion thing. I'm not really too sure why my form has dipped so much. I think I just need to grind harder and try to find ways to improve.
Q: Talking about the meta in the bot lane, despite Zeri's game today, it seems most games end up being the Jinx-Aphelios handshake. What are your thoughts on playing those kind of champions compared to a lot of the other stuff that has been more in vogue in previous seasons?
100Thieves FBI: I think the meta is kind of boring. I think this Jinx matchup has been in the meta for the whole of spring already.
So I kind of want it to change but it is also fun playing hyper carries anyways. I feel like the meta is kind of boring.
Q: If you were in charge of the balance team for the next patch and you could make whatever changes you want. What single change would you do to make the bot lane a bit more fun?
100Thieves FBI: I really like playing Kai'sa. I'd really like Kai'sa to come back into the meta. And then stuff like Vayne & Twitch is really fun in the bot lane. So I'd want to bring those champions back.
Q: Overall, 100Thieves are currently sitting at 5-5. You already said you are not happy with your own performance individually. And that the League, it's hard to prove if they have improved or you have dipped. Assuming the latter is true, what do you think 100Thieves need to work on to get back to the form you guys were on last summer?
100Thieves FBI: I'm not too sure. I feel like a lot of it has to be on my individual play. I am my harshest critic. To be a good team, you need to have good individuals in every role. Everyone has to be able to play their part. I'm not too sure. I feel like a lot of it has to be on my individual play.
I am my harshest critic. To be a good team, you need to have good individuals in every role. Everyone has to be able to play their part.
Recently, I feel like I've not been able to do that. I just need to work on my individual play first and then from there I feel like the team as a whole will play better.
Q: Is there anything that the team environment does to help facilitate you to get to that place you were at? Anything in particular you want to shout out?
100Thieves FBI: Yeah, for sure. My teammates and my coaching staff do a really good job of bringing up the environment. Just a really friendly environment where you can talk about anything and everyone is very willing to learn and improve. I feel like the team environment has been really good and I just need to step up. I definitely feel like we'll get there at the end of this Split.
Q: Would you like to say anything to the 100Thieves fans?
To the 100Thieves fans, really sorry. I feel like I've been showing very, very disappointing performances. So I'm going to work really hard to make sure.
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