In an effort to prove the countless doubters wrong, Sentinels end their LCQ run with a record of 1-2 but show the potential of this newly formed roster. In short order, we saw glimpses of the formulation of a new core.
In a breath of fresh air, Tyson "TenZ" Ngo show signs of life with his first match eclipsing the 225 ACS mark since May 13th in the Challengers Stage 2 group stages. Furthermore, Jordan "Zellsis" Montemurro brought over that same fire power and versatility he displayed with Version1 with three monster performances.
Despite a lackluster finish with Michael "Shroud" Grzesiek ending with a disappointing 0.58 KD, there's plenty of good to take away from this run. With Sentinels a virtual guarantee for partner in Riot's franchising plans with their social footprint, the question now turns to whether or not this roster is worth developing or if they should blow it up.
100 Thieves Ruin the Sentinels Party
However, the real story is 100 Thieves winning an elimination match and moving three wins away from Champs. In a short time, this rendition of the 100 Thieves roster has proven to be one with an unlimited ceiling and explosive inidividual firepower. With Sean Gares leading behind the scenes, 100T have improved in their strategies and have unleashed the likes of Peter "Asuna" Mazuryk and Derrek "Derrek" Ha on the world.
Starting with the map vetoes, Sean in a post-match interview confirmed they were leaning towards picking Fracture before Sentinels choose it.
"We had a pretty good idea of how the veto was going to go," said Sean Gares post-match. "We predicted the veto. The only difference is that we thought we were the ones that were going to pick Fracture and they picked it. We ended up picking whatever we thought they were going to pick. Breeze, we put in a lot of work on Breeze. The main preparation for today was really focusing on the mental, making sure we wouldn't make some of the mistakes we made previously against Faze, and I think that showed."
100 Thieves struggling in the mid-rounding
With both teams strong on Fracture, the map went to triple overtime. TenZ had his best game first kill-wise with a 75% first blood success rate and Sentinels showed the ability to fend off heavy pressure executions from 100T. Both teams had 8-4 defensive halves, with Sentinels showing better in mid-round rotations. It’s clear TenZ was starting to understand positioning on the Chamber and when to push the flank.
"Sometimes the mid-rounds get a little sloppy and sometimes we misplay situations where it's just instinctual plays made across the map," said Gares."That's something we can clean up and I'm super optimistic we can do it as this tournament progresses."
Sometimes the mid-rounds get a little sloppy and sometimes we misplay situations where it's just instinctual plays made across the map
Regardless of Fracture, 100 Thieves only trailed on Breeze briefly and never looked back to win the series. It was clear there was an experience and skill gap that exists between the teams. On top of improved set plays on Breeze and Haven, the big guns showed up for 100 Thieves today with Asuna and Derrek putting on a show.
The Derrek and Asuna show continues
For Derrek, he continues to have huge rounds with multi-kills, but more importantly, is able to convert 1v2 situations consistently. In the win over Sentinels, he already had a 33% clutch rate adding to his ludicrous LCQ clutch numbers but also won three 1v2 situations. Even when 100T doesn't have a clean round, he constantly bails them out.
Now focusing on Asuna, there's a clear difference in intimidation when he's playing his best. 100T appears close to unbeatable when he's confidently taking duels in an entry spot or in the more passive Initiator role. In the three LCQ matches, Asuna has the second highest ACS in the tournament (257.4) and has turned up in all his various roles. If this keeps up, 100T should be able to put pressure on any remaining teams.
100 Thieves matching up with cloud9
"When we play C9 in scrims, they're just a very well-oiled team. They have a lot in their playbook and I give a lot of credit to Vanity. He somehow calls while typing to us, that is insane…nah, I'm just kidding. No, seriously, Vanity is hilarious, but he's also a great leader and I have a lot of respect for him. I'd love to play Cloud9."
100 Thieves will play Cloud 9 on August 12th at 4 pm PST