“I’ll be honest, I didn’t even know which one was our map pick,” Asuna confident no matter what map 100T plays

Following 100 Thieves' Week 1 loss to Sentinels in the VCT Americas league, esports.gg spoke with IGL Brenden "stellar" McGrath. The team picked up their first league victory, against Evil Geniuses, in Week 2. This series was followed by a conversation with Peter "Asuna" Mazuryk.

It was a fairly quick 2-0 win by 100 Thieves. Evil Geniuses showed much promise, but 100T was too much for them to overcome. The match was something we, of course, asked Asuna about, along with his thoughts on Gekko, preseason predictions, and the other regions in the league.

"After a Week 1 loss, this was obviously meant to be a bounce-back series. With what we've seen from EG so far, do you feel like this was a good match up to get your momentum back?"

Asuna: "Yeah, I guess so. I mean, any match shows, I think, we're looking at ourselves as the favorite and the underdog. So, you know, always giving them respect, but always knowing that we're not destined to win anything unless we put in the work. So yeah, I think it was a good match overall, though."

"It was a pretty clean series overall from 100 Thieves, so let's just start with the obvious question about Haven. This was your first time playing Gekko. We've seen the new Agent used across the VCT in a variety of comps and on a variety of maps. What about Gekko fits your playstyle and the needs of 100 Thieves?"

Asuna: "I mean my playstyle, it doesn't really matter to me. If you're a good player, you should be able to play anyone, or you should be playing fundamentally solid and for the team. It's just that we thought he fit the map pretty well and when we were practicing, we were getting value out of him. We thought, you know, we should try to, not stay ahead of the meta, but also just like, if we think it's good, let's just play it and not really think too much about it. But it was hard to get practice on it, so, yeah."

"Next, we'll touch on Icebox. It was your map pick, and after winning map one, how confident was the team heading into it?"

Asuna: "I don't really think about map picks that much. We play every map, so it's not really a big deal what map it is. I'll be honest, I didn't even know which one was our map pick. So, I mean, we were confident, because I know we're good on Icebox, I know we're good on Haven, and I know we're good on whatever the third map was."

"Did the swap from BcJ to Demon1 catch you off guard at all?"

Asuna: "No."

"Simple enough. Were there any sudden changes in the Icebox game plan from either Mikes or Stellar to account for Demon1 being in the server?"

Asuna: "We thought BcJ was pretty good in the first game, so with him coming out, I thought, 'This should be easier,' personally. We just know Demon1's going to try to be aggressive and in our face. So, we just accounted for that."

"Well, going into LOCK//IN and espcially into VCT Americas, a lot of people have 100 Thieves penciled in as a favorite to qualify for Masters Tokyo and Champions. Do you pay attention to that talk at all and feel like there is any pressure to match those predictions?"

Asuna: "No, I mean, I think we should make it, but obviously, it depends on how things play out. The matches and stuff. You know, nerves and whatnot, but obviously I always think we'll win."

"Next up is another NA battle against Cloud9, so you've got to get through that before playing any other regions here in the league. Skipping past Cloud9, what are you thoughts on the Brazilian and LATAM teams?"

Asuna: "From watching them play, they all have very entertaining games. Like MIBR versus LOUD. Honestly, that one was pretty entertaining. Then...yeah, I can't think of anything off the top of my head, but they all seem really good. Oh, yeah, Leviatán smoked NRG. They're all really good. None of the teams here are really bad or anything, so, you know, you have to give everyone respect."

Stay tuned to esports.gg for more esports news and VALORANT coverage.