100T Timotino: "The improvement we showed this year has been unreal"

The EWC - Esports World Cup 2026 has been a spectacle of solid VALORANT action. With a single-elimination bracket in place for the playoffs, the event is much less forgiving than that of Riot Games' official events like Masters or Champions where teams have a safety net in the form of a lower bracket. Timothée "Timotino" Lavigne Dupont's team managed to reach the semifinals, being pitted against the red-hot Nongshim RedForce after their second win this year against Brazil's MIBR. THESPIKE spoke with Timotino after the Duelist's win in the quarterfinals.

On the Grand Stage

Coming from Ascension, where Timotino played for America's TSM, the Canadian entered the big leagues in 2026 with 100 Thieves. Timotino seemed beyond excited to be playing in front of the French crowd here in Paris, garnering experience over time.

I mean, I'm so hyped. It's so fun to play on stage in front of the French crowd. They have so much energy and it's giving me a lot of energy, you know? I'm so excited. I love playing on stage and it's just an unreal experience.

Given the player's mere age of 18 and the long road ahead, Timotino expressed nothing but excitement about the team's victory and them reaching the semifinals of EWC Paris. Timotino went as far as to call it a great achievement in the young player's esports career in VALORANT.

I mean, it's an insane achievement. I feel like the improvement we showed this year has been unreal. We went from, you know, being two games away from qualifying from one game to like one game away from qualifying to our first international and making top four. I mean, you could see the growth right there. It's really obvious that we're improving as a team. So, I mean, it's just a really great achievement for us.

Nemesis of MIBR

After beating MIBR in the quarterfinals of EWC 2026, 100 Thieves have eliminated them from competition as there is no lower bracket in place for the playoffs. However, the two teams clashed at VALORANT Champions Tour 2026 - Americas Stage 1 earlier this year in the lower bracket of the playoffs. 100T effectively eliminated MIBR from the event with a swift 2-0 scoreline.

I think at EWC, I feel like they (MIBR) showed way more ideas of how they want to play from the first time we played them [at Americas Stage 1]. When when we played them, you know, in Stage 1, they felt like they didn't really have an identity, but at EWC, they showed a little bit more of that. So I feel like they improved and they could really be a great team going into Stage 2 and Champs possibly.

EWC - Esports World Cup 2026

100 Thieves

2

X

1

MIBR

Quarter Final, Best of 3 - July 10, 2026 - 2:15PM

13

Fracture

2

10

Breeze

13

13

Haven

5

100 Thieves

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

Asuna

1.36

267

53/39/19

+14

1.36

79.5%

170.0

27%

40%

4

6

vora

1.06

207

40/32/20

+8

1.25

76.2%

145.5

27%

33%

2

4

bang

1.03

174

34/34/29

0

1.00

78.8%

116.6

30%

60%

3

2

Timotino

1.00

223

41/38/7

+3

1.08

71.8%

124.6

28%

52%

12

11

Cryocells

0.95

176

36/32/11

+4

1.13

69.3%

114.0

23%

42%

5

7

MIBR

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

Verno

1.12

232

43/40/19

+3

1.08

72.7%

169.1

36%

100%

2

0

Mazino

0.89

179

34/42/19

-8

0.81

62.8%

119.1

23%

53%

8

7

zekken

0.81

183

36/41/13

-5

0.88

70.8%

131.7

18%

73%

8

3

aspas

0.71

147

31/40/12

-9

0.78

72.1%

102.0

21%

39%

7

11

tex

0.67

159

31/41/6

-10

0.76

60.6%

111.4

32%

50%

5

5

Becoming a complete Duelist

It's safe to say that Timotino's rise to fame started with how he played the Agent Waylay. Now, with the meta shifts, Neon remains the primary Duelist choice for a lot of teams despite the relatively recent Neon nerfs. We asked Timotino what it takes for him to become a complete Duelist in VALORANT.

I think for me to be a complete Duelist, I would have to have way more experience on different roles, you know? Like I played a little bit of Phoenix, I wasn't super great on it. So, I would still need to have a bit more experience. I feel like this EWC or these past few months, I've been really improving my Neon. It's one of the things where I feel like I struggled a little bit in the past. So, basically at EWC, I've improved a lot and I'm really happy with my progress on Neon. So, I just need, you know, give me a couple years and I'll have a thousand rounds on every Duelist and then I'll be a complete Duelist.

100 Thieves face Nongshim RedForce in the semifinals of EWC Paris 2026. Keep up with the Esports World Cup on our event page and follow THESPIKE.GG for all the latest news, interviews, and features in VALORANT.