100 Thieves add b0i and seven, bench steel

Yet another shakeup in the VALORANT esports scene leading up to VCT 2021 - North America Last Chance Qualifier sees 100 Thieves bring in Aaron "b0i" Thao to the main roster from a substitute role. He replaces veteran player Joshua "steel" Nissan, who will be moved to the bench. The North American organization has also revealed the signing of Johann "seven" Hernandez, who will act as their primary substitute going forward.

The move has been lauded by some and criticized by others, but there is no question that 100 Thieves have lacked something that would take them to the next level for a while now. They’ve had some truly impressive results as of late, besting both the finalists of Masters Berlin, M3 Champions and Envy, as well as many regional counterparts, but have fallen at the final hurdle and seen trophies slip away from them multiple times. Clearly, the management and squad weren’t satisfied, so a roster change was on the cards.

b0i is no stranger to the 100 Thieves setup, having been involved with the team since July after his departure from NYFU in May this year. VCT 2021 - Stage 2 - North America - Challengers Finals was the last time we’ve seen him play in officials, but the team seem to have a lot of trust in him given the last minute timing of the change. Interestingly, given both b0i and Nicholas "nitr0" Cannella use Omen heavily, we might even see an agent composition switch up in the team come the next event.

Sadly, the man who has to make way is long-standing 100 Thieves member and FPS veteran steel. After a truly wonderful stint leading Chaos Esports’ CS:GO team, his switch to VALORANT about a year ago brought incredible hype and high hopes for himself and the star-studded roster. However, things haven’t gone as smoothly as he would have liked: after their win at First Strike North America Regional Final late last year, he has only managed to bag one trophy in this year’s circuit. Being primarily a Sentinel user, Cypher’s decline in dominance certainly hasn’t helped him, and his KAY/O picks have been hit or miss. Playing the role steel plays also makes it hard to frag out consistently, but a downturn in form that sees him go positive only twice in his last fifteen maps is difficult to justify. It is inevitable that a player of steel’s quality will find a team to lead going into the next circuit, but it was clear that his run at 100 Thieves was close to the end.

The last change that the North American organization made is the acquisition of seven, a youngster who has been playing on unsigned rosters since the beginning of the year. He has been putting up cracking performances, most recently winning Vanguard Championship Series - Week 70 and boasting a 1.20 rating and 250 ACS overall on multiple duelists. He is definitely someone to watch out for in the future and possibly on the main 100 Thieves roster.

The North American organization is now:

Spencer “Hiko” Martin Nicholas “nitr0” Cannella Peter “Asuna” Mazuryk Ethan “Ethan” Arnold Aaron “b0i” Thao

Johann “seven” Hernandez (substitute) Joshua “steel” Nissan (benched)