100 Thieves close out an intense matchup against NRG

100 Thieves and NRG Esports initiated proceedings for VCT 2022 - North America Last Chance Qualifier’s second day. Both teams had a disappointing end to Stage 1 of VCT 2022 but came back arguably stronger in Stage 2 with NRG finishing 4th and 100 Thieves 5th-6th at VCT 2022 - North America - Stage 2 - Main Event.

VCT 2022 - North America Last Chance Qualifier

NRG Esports

1

X

2

100 Thieves

Upper Bracket Quarter Final, Best of 3 - August 5, 2022 - 8:00PM

13

Icebox

11

7

Bind

13

11

Ascent

13

NRG Esports

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

Ethan

1.12

222

50/44/29

+6

1.14

74.4%

142.6

23%

25%

3

9

s0m

1.05

215

47/55/28

-8

0.85

74.7%

142.0

19%

56%

10

8

eeiu

0.90

185

44/52/16

-8

0.85

61.7%

120.3

24%

33%

2

4

tex

0.87

194

45/52/6

-7

0.87

70.3%

121.7

36%

71%

15

6

hazed

0.64

134

32/50/17

-18

0.64

60.0%

99.3

22%

9%

1

10

100 Thieves

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

bang

1.26

233

55/43/34

+12

1.28

82.5%

147.5

38%

60%

3

2

Derrek

1.17

221

53/34/24

+19

1.56

80.0%

153.9

43%

75%

6

2

Asuna

1.17

236

55/52/27

+3

1.06

73.3%

149.8

16%

50%

11

11

stellar

1.10

218

48/40/25

+8

1.20

80.3%

136.5

22%

60%

9

6

Will

0.84

180

42/49/16

-7

0.86

69.2%

123.0

19%

44%

8

10

100 Thieves decided on Split as their map pick hoping for any advantage they could get early on. Winning the first couple of rounds in rapid succession further increased their morale for the upcoming rounds; however, Ian "tex" Botsch executing a 3K perfectly threw a spanner in the works and shifted the momentum to NRG. For the remaining half, the momentum swayed back and forth from one team to the other resulting in a tied score line at halftime.

100 Thieves were once again the better team during the Pistol round, but unfortunately couldn’t control the developing momentum, which allowed NRG to sweep in and take 5 consecutive rounds to themselves posting a lead of three points. Although 100 Thieves were able to neutralize this predicament in the following rounds, NRG closed out the map taking the much-needed lead in the series.

Both teams then transitioned to Bind where 100 Thieves wasted no time in avenging the sub-par performance they demonstrated earlier. Once again, they were successful in taking the first couple of rounds and faltered immediately afterwards allowing NRG to take easy three rounds. Unlike the second half on Split, 100 Thieves was able to recover quickly and retaliated with five back-to-back rounds.

To lessen the effects of the blow, NRG managed to sneak in a couple of rounds before the half reducing the deficit to two points. A 7-5 lead isn’t the end of the world given that teams have comeback from worse. Unfortunately, 100 Thieves wasn’t willing to allow NRG any opportunities for a comeback as they forced their defense to take only two rounds as they closed out a map to their name forcing the decider.

The anticipation of how a decider will play out often tends to be more exciting than the actual gameplay. However, it wasn’t the case this time around as both teams remained toe-to-toe on the scoreboard. Neither team was able to string together a game-defining streak without being bombarded by the other team.

By halftime both teams were tied at six apiece but then NRG ramped up their aggression to post a 10-7 lead threatening 100 Thieves position in the matchup. Just when their hopes were seemingly dissipating Sean "bang" Bezerra and William "Will" Cheng banded together for twenty kills over only seven rounds finishing the half with 1.51 and 1.53 Rating respectively. Their performance propelled the team to close out Ascent and progress through the Upper Round brackets.