100 Thieves CEO Matthew “Nadeshot” Haag made a response regarding the situation surrounding Josh “Steel” Nissan being benched from the starting roster in VALORANT.
As one of 100 Thieves’ original members, from when the VALORANT roster was reformed around Spencer “Hiko” Martin, the rumor that Steel would be removed from the team came as a surprise to fans. In an announcement made by 100 Thieves on Sept. 27, the team revealed that former analyst Aaron “b0i” Thao would be taking Steel’s position on the team. Additionally, the team would be adding another substitute to the team in Johann “Seven” Hernandez.
After the initial shock of Steel being benched, Nadeshot shared his thoughts while streaming. He started by explaining how he loved Steel and thought he was an incredible player. He also spoke about how Steel’s removal from the team did not mean the end of his career in VALORANT.
“The team just needed something different right now,” Nadeshot said.
Steel himself has not spoken about the roster change, but he mentioned that he would be back to competing during the 2022 season.
100 Thieves make a dramatic change at the end
100 Thieves recently returned from Berlin, Germany, where they competed in the second international LAN event for VALORANT. As the second seed from North America, 100 Thieves proved themselves against top teams and finished top four at Masters 3. As Steel’s replacement, b0i has been working with the team since July. His knowledge of the way the team plays, in addition to his experience playing on ANDBOX, makes him the perfect stand-in for the Last Chance Qualifiers. Seven will replace b0i as the substitute for the team and he could potentially move to the starting roster after Champions.
With 100 Thieves placing lower than Envy at Masters 3, they will have to battle it out in the Last Chance Qualifier for NA to make it to Champions. The LCQ will only send one team to the final event.
