The current 100 Thieves hot streak rolls on after beating the European favorites Fnatic 2-1 in Group D of VALORANT Champions 2022.
It’s been nearly an entire year since 100 Thieves played on the Master's stage. The former roster paved the way for North American VALORANT in early 2021. However, the current roster is looking to take the next step forward. Combined, the former and current roster, have an unblemished record (3-0) against what many consider to be the best region in VALORANT, Europe.
After dismantling the best of the non-qualified NA teams at the Last Chance Qualifier, 100 Thieves have carried that momentum into Champions. Despite the team having to play in isolation due to a positive COVID-19 test, it had little effect on the end result.
Even from the hotel rooms, 100 Thieves were fiery and passionate. Head coach Sean Gares was caught on the player cams firing off F-bombs and showing a genuine enthusiasm for the moment. That confidence transferred into the server with one of 100 Thieves' most complete performances of 2022.
100 Thieves winning Pearl
For starters, William “Will” Cheng in his first Masters game displayed his massive potential. In the win overall, he top-fragged with 66 total kills in 63 rounds and ended with a 303 ACS. When Will preforms to this level, 100 Thieves has shown to be a truly dangerous roster, capable of taking out any team.
“Playing good for me is just playing confident. When I play very confident and I kind of take over in the game with my comms and everything I can take over games just like that”
On Pearl, Will got started with an impressive showing on the new map by effectively entering and pushing space. Regardless of the 6-6 halftime score, once 100 Thieves took to the attack, Fnatic didn’t have the right positioning to limit him on entry plays. He picked apart the defensive setups and made it easy on his teammates to find kills.
In terms of first kills, 100 Thieves doubled Fnatic’s output and traded more effectively. In the small number of games played on Pearl, virtually nobody has found the necessary space as efficiently as will on the Raze. His confidence is building and as Will goes, so does 100 Thieves. Even with Pearl being so fresh, Will and the 100 Thieves coaching staff had the idea that Fnatic would pick it.
“So we know that Fnatic usually like playing the newer maps as soon as they come out so we knew that in the back of our minds, we didn't expect them to first pick it but I thought that maybe they would float it for third but we definitely prepared for Pearl in the couple scrims that we could, whatever that we could get on scrims on that and we expected that Pearl could be an option basically”
The Decider Haven
Even with Fnatic taking Bind rather uncontested, 100 Thieves entered the decider on a mission. The first five rounds went to 100 Thieves, followed up by a six-round streak for Fnatic. In the second half, on 100 Thieves' attack side, it was a slaughter.
The half score was 7-1, with each member of the team contributing to the victory. The mix of plays, whether that be quick executes onto the A-site or slower pushes through the garage, 100 Thieves weren’t being caught off guard by any Fnatic setups.
“It’s definitely a huge confidence booster,” said Will post-game. “I think what it means for us is that we’re able to punch back at any team that we can as long as were communicating and doing all of our fundamentals together.”
For a team with minimal LAN experience, dealing with COVID in their first match, this is a full-fledged success. 100 Thieves will face South Korea’s DRX next for a shot at the Champions playoffs as a one-seed.
100 Thieves face DRX on September 3rd at 11 am PST
Featured image courtesy of Riot Games