North American esports organization 100 Thieves started off the 2019 LCS season with disappointing results. Even so, things were starting to look up for the League of Legends team in recent weeks as they pushed for a playoff spot. On the last day of the Summer Split, they came out victorious against 2nd place team Counter Logic Gaming. However, the team then dropped out of the race with a loss to OpTic Gaming in a tiebreaker match. Even with this news, team owner Matthew “Nadeshot” Haag is still positive about their results.
So although in the end we came up a bit short, our team kept fighting through the very last second and for that, I’ll always be proud. Good luck to the rest of the teams in the playoffs, go show the world what North America can do. We’ll see you next year.
— 100T Nadeshot (@Nadeshot) August 6, 2019
Nadeshot optimistic
“Don’t think many people will understand what starting 0-5 in the season can do to a players morale and mentality,” wrote Nadeshot. “Would’ve been easy for them to give up, check out and just collect a paycheck but they did the exact opposite and made a ridiculous run towards a playoff spot.”
Even though the team didn’t end up making it to the Summer Playoffs, Nadeshot is still happy they fought it through. After the team went 0 – 5, losing game after game, it was no doubt hard to find the motivation to continue. Many of the roster’s players were signed at the end of the 2018 season with a 2-year contract. Because of this, they could have easily given up on the remainder of the season.
100 Thieves in LCS
100 Thieves achieved a first-place finish in their first year during the 2018 NA LCS Spring Split. The team then went on to a third-place title during the 2018 Summer Split. This eventually led them to a spot at the 2018 World Championships, where they placed 9-12.
With the 2019 LCS Spring Split came the addition of former SK Telecom AD Carry Bae “Bang” Jun-sik. 100 Thieves seemed to be a prime contender as a top tier team. However, the roster finished in 10th in the Spring Split instead. The organization made changes, including switching around Academy players onto the main roster and vice versa. It also signed Maurice “Amazing” Stückenschneider to a starting jungler role for the Summer Split.
The team ended up going 8-10 from a 0-5 start. They also wound up tied with Golden Guardians and OpTic Gaming with the same win-loss record. Although the team narrowly missed the playoffs, it has ample time to make improvements in the offseason. What changes do you think 100 Thieves will make to their LCS roster? Let us know in the comments, and keep up with all of the latest League of Legends news and content here at Daily Esports.
Published: Aug 7, 2019 04:57 pm