“I hope that our performance today and throughout the whole tournament kind of shows people what's up.” - Interview with 100 Thieves Cryo

We had a chat with 100 Thieves’ latest transfer, Matthew "Cryocells" Panganiban after lifting the Red Bull Home Ground trophy. Cryo shared his thoughts on his individual performance as well as 100 Thieves’ performance and answered a couple more of our questions.

THESPIKEGG: You are the only addition to the 100 Thieves roster this year and looking at the performance here in Manchester, your adaptation process went very smoothly. How did you manage to adapt to the team so perfectly?

Cryo: I'd say I adapted so quickly just because I was kind of like the perfect fit that they were looking for coming into the next season. They needed a primary operator, which I was. And I think I just kind of filled that role just really naturally, just because all the pieces were just together.

THESPIKEGG: Your chemistry is on another level for sure. How did you build this chemistry in a short amount of time?

Cryo: It wasn't really a short amount of time. I was friends with all of them before I even joined, for like over a year, basically. It's just a matter of, we're on a team together as a 5, so. It's all good.

THESPIKEGG: You guys did not lose a single match throughout the tournament and lifted the trophy undefeated. Was this performance a sneak peek for Brazil? How do you see your chances both at the Kickoff tournament and at the Americas League?

Cryo: Yeah, for sure. This is a statement for Brazil. We came into this tournament just looking for experience in playing international teams and also a LAN experience for all of us as a core 5. And yeah, I mean, I definitely think about people underrated us before this tournament, but I hope that our performance today and throughout the whole tournament kind of shows people what's up.

THESPIKEGG: We know all the rosters and both NA representatives made it to the grand final while EMEA teams were eliminated. How would you compare NA to EMEA this year?

Cryo: Well, to start I would say that NA and EMEA both have different play styles, but I don't think that this tournament reflects what the EMEA teams can really do. A couple of them have been going through like subs and not the core rosters and they just needed more time. We had 100 Thieves like there are four-core that I joined. They were already been to international events, so we did the least amount of rebuilding going into the next season. So that's definitely an advantage. But yeah, I don't think this tournament reflects what EMEA can do.

THESPIKEGG: You literally started from scratch and grind your way up to the top with XSET. Now, you play for 100 Thieves and made a great start to your new chapter by winning the Home Ground trophy. How did it feel last year to win the regional championship and represent NA at VALORANT Champions 2022, also making an impressive start to the new chapter?

Cryo: It's great. In every tournament that I've played up to this point, I've gotten continuously, progressively better in terms of placing or performance or however, whatever you want to base it off of. I see myself as improving every single event, not only as an individual like mechanical skill, confidence, whatever but also just as a team. So it's a great feeling.

THESPIKEGG: Today might have been the last day of us seeing you with Chamber. You have also played Jett many times during the tournament. What do you think about the changes and which agents are we going to see you play in the upcoming tournaments, except Jett?

Cryo: Yeah, the changes are most likely to push Chamber out of the meta. It kind of depends on how teams utilize him. So you probably see Cypher, Killjoy brought back. We didn't run Chamber on all of the maps. So we're gonna bring out some new comps and hopefully kind of shape a shape into a new meta.