Asuna on the recent tech issues plaguing the VCT: "Americas setup, the PCs have been insane. I think they get, like, 800 FPS. And they got 360Hz monitors."
A staple of North American VALORANT, 100 Thieves were quick to correct course after their first round loss in the playoffs of the VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 - Americas Stage 1. With a statement victory over NRG, the thieves showed they still have what it takes to compete for a spot at VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 - Masters Toronto 2025, and will not go down without a fight.
Following his team's win in the lower bracket, THESPIKE had a chance to sit down with the longest-standing member of 100 Thieves, Peter "Asuna" Mazuryk, for an exclusive interview where he was able to discuss the team's turnaround after an early playoffs loss, his growing partnership with Matthew "Cryocells" Panganiban, and his own personal take on the technical issues that have plagued the VCT in EMEA as of late.
Asuna
THESPIKE: The team looked a lot better this time around compared to yesterday's game. What would you say were some of the biggest takeaways you guys were able to draw from your loss to MIBR before coming into this match?
Yeah, we didn't have a lot of time to reset. So, you know, we lost yesterday, and now we have another match. We went immediately — all six of us, the coach and the five players — we went immediately... it took us a while to get home because of LA traffic, but yeah, we spent five hours with it. Well, we started at like 5 or 6, and we ended at like 10 for two of us because they were trying to go to bed and do their night routine. Then me, Tony, Zander, and Kel, we stayed for another two hours together just talking about everything until midnight.
And then, yeah, we just spent a lot of time just talking about what we could easily fix for the next game. I brought up — which was a big thing that Tony then hammered in during the VOD review — "What would a clean team do? How do we make our games a lot cleaner and a lot simpler?" Because we can easily win these games as long as we do that.
I'm happy with how we reset from yesterday's loss because we definitely — of course, we won this game, so it's a lot easier to say, “Yeah, we played differently, we were a lot better.” But even if we lost this game, we definitely had a different atmosphere and fight to it. You know, we came back — I think it was a 9-3 or 8-4 on a Haven defense.
_1742642002431.png&w=64&q=75 "VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 - Americas Stage 1")
Zander
Asuna
THESPIKE: Are there any specifics you can give me — without giving away too much, of course — on what it is that a 'clean team' looks like? What is it that you guys were able to work on?
One of the maps we played against MIBR was Split. So we couldn't go over map detail things. Like, obviously, you can't talk about like, "Oh, on Split, we have to do this, blah blah blah." We had to talk about fundamentals and things that we can take away because we were going to be playing Fracture and Haven. These are two maps that we were heavily anticipating coming into the veto, and we didn't play them yesterday. So when we're talking about the maps, we can't just say, "Oh, we need to do this, blah blah blah."
So, we were just looking at a lot of, you know, low-number situations. How can we have a different mindset going into it? Not how to change everything, but like, how can we make the rounds simpler? Like, you know, maybe we can jiggle, maybe we can spot. And then, you know, use utility — stuff like that, that makes the rounds a lot easier.
Also, one of the takeaways we had from the Split game — Icebox was a lot harder to have takeaways because we kind of got destroyed — but Split, you know, just play a lot more like what we're used to. What things we do, you know, stuff like that. Go back to old reliable because we're really good at scrims. And when we started doing things that are like a little one-off, you know, it's hard to believe that that is us.
THESPIKE: You guys went 1-3 in pistol rounds against MIBR yesterday, and now it was 3-1 against NRG instead. Was there much focus on pistol rounds in your prep for today?
Yeah, I don't think there really was much. It was just mainly the focus point was the second round that we lost after winning that pistol on Icebox defense. We needed to clean up things like that. That was one of the other points I brought up, where like a clean team doesn't lose second round. So, I mean, I don't have to be a genius to say that, but how do we fix that? It has to be because we're all good players, but we should not be losing those kinds of rounds. Because imagine if we won the pistol and then lost second round — we wouldn't even have come back on Haven. We wouldn't even be here talking. We'd be playing map 3 right now.
So, I think overall, just... also the bonus round on Split, because we started down 0-4. It's one thing to lose a pistol and the second round. It's another thing to lose the pistol, second round, and bonus. And then you have to eco and then lose a fourth round. Like, on Split, we started down basically 6-0 because of the pistol and bonus.
So, we were cleaning up bonus and second-round ecos. That was like the main focus that I wanted to drill in because if we can win most gun rounds and not get thrifty'd, we are going to be in a better position throughout the game and a lot easier and a lot smoother.
THESPIKE: How much of an asset do you think it is for you guys to have the ability to alternate duelists between yourself and Cryo? Teams and players have grown a lot more flexible in the VCT over time, but not all teams have caught up yet. So, would you say this makes it harder for opponents to prep against you?
Yeah, I think when we are running unique stuff, it's a lot harder. But overall, I would say on a side note, me and Matt (Cryo) as players have developed alongside each other. I feel like, you know, we've been playing together... he's about to be my longest teammate because it was Sean "bang" Bezerra, but not anymore, you know?
But, you know, we complement each other really well. And you don't really see a lot of players with our agent pools playing the things we do, because there's not really two players that kind of just permanently played together and covered each other's weaknesses like us. It just ended up developing into this where, you know, I'm entry, he's really good with the Operator. I'm bad with the Op. He's a lot more mechanically inclined than me, I would say. So I think there are gunfights that I'm better at, but there are gunfights he's way better at. He looks a lot cleaner.
So it's just nice to see when you think about it in that lens because I'm very much... I don't know how to explain it. Seeing people grow, it really warms my heart. And looking back on the past and seeing what we became, it's a warm feeling. I'm just happy that we're on the same team. We're winning. We're doing things that we're proud of. We sacrificed a lot to be here.
THESPIKE: We had the chance to talk to Jacob "valyn" Batio a few days ago, and he named MIBR, Sentinels, and you guys as the biggest threats to G2 Esports at Stage 1. How do you feel about that take? Would you agree that you guys are a top three team in the Americas right now?
Yeah, I think it's hard to say, but I like to think that when we are playing normal, good Valorant, we are definitely a top three team. And we are consistently, more often than not, good and normal, I would say. I'll be frank: I think the Split game yesterday that we lost, we should have won. There were a lot of things going wrong that we just messed up. They had a lot of hero plays, and they were individually really on form versus us who were not on form. So, yeah. I think, though, I appreciate it from Valyn.
I think one of the small things I don't know is what people think about me. Because, obviously, when you talk to someone, they're going to say positive things about you because you're right next to them. You're talking to them face-to-face. But you don't know how someone really feels deep down inside about you. And, you know, hearing that makes me happy and more confident going into our next game, which I believe could be against him.
THESPIKE: Alexander "Zander" Dituri was just lights out today. Now, both him and Daniel "eeiu" Vucenovic being Canadian, do you feel like there's any kind of extra bit motivation for 100 Thieves to reach Masters this time around given that it's in Toronto?
Yeah, it's funny. They're both Canadian AND from Toronto. So it's a double whammy.
But, yeah, I mean, it's definitely motivation, but it's also like, you know, you want to explore a city you haven't been to. And playing your first Masters in the city you were born and raised, or like close to — it's kind of a little annoying. Not like — obviously, don't get me wrong, going to Masters Toronto, it's probably insane. His family's there, everyone could be there for him and stuff — for Dan (eeiu) and Zander. And my parents are from New York City, so they will easily make the car ride. They like driving more than flying.
I think overall, though, you know, it has its pros and cons, but definitely no matter what, we would always give it our all — even if it wasn't in a Canadian city.
THESPIKE: A tough matchup coming your way either way, but do you have a preference on who you'd like to face next between G2 and Sentinels?
Sen. It's easy. I think Sen would be an amazing game. It would be so fun. And we'll be getting our revenge.
THESPIKE: I want to ask you about the tech issues that have been plaguing the VCT, particularly in EMEA. Do you have any thoughts on the issue? We know from the audience point of view how frustrating it can be. But do you have any insights on what it's like to have to go through that from a player's perspective?
Like I said earlier, I don't really talk to many pro players. So I didn't even know how bad it was in Europe. I did see, you know, like small screenshots about the ping and FPS, like comments, blah blah blah. And like stuttering. But I didn't realize how drastic it was where they were all of a sudden playing online servers, which is completely wild to me that that was even like a compromise, a suggestion.
So, yeah, I would say for Americas, everything's been good ever since 2023. I think the first year, the hardest part whenever you're a rookie is figuring out audio setup. I know Valorant is very much audio dependent, obviously. But the PCs have never been a problem. I've never really stuttered. I've had a mouse issue in Berlin, but that was like so long ago. And that wasn't even franchising.
So I haven't really had many problems besides, like I said, audio in 2023. And then eventually, beginning of 2024, I figured out the in-ears had a different, like, thing you can put in them — like, I don't know how to explain it. It's like the... stuffing? The one that expands in my ear rather than starts off a certain size. And like, there were some games where in 2023, like Map 3, my ears legit were — I mean, it wasn't bleeding... But, like, man, did it feel like it could bleed at any moment. So that's, like, the only thing, which is, like, more on me, I would say. And also figuring out bass and stuff like that.
Yeah, like I said, audio is the only thing. And it wasn't even, like, Riot's fault. It's just more... It's, like, hard to figure out the questions you have to ask for what you hear and how to, like, fix it with someone else. Because, obviously, everyone hears differently. But Riot's been perfect ever since then. And I haven't had any problems with this. Americas setup, the PCs have been insane. I think they get, like, 800 FPS. And they got 360Hz monitors.
But I just feel for those players. Like, you don't have a lot of opportunity. And when you do have it... You know, I read a lot of tweets where people are saying, like, if you play and you play bad in, like, three games out of the five, you blew your chance. And people are going to look at you a lot differently. And it's hard to go from Tier 1 to Tier 2 and then back up to Tier 1. It takes a lot of grind and you kind of have to, like, change your image.
THESPIKE: Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us, Asuna. Best of luck for the remainder of the playoffs.
Note: Some minor parts of the interview may have been edited for the sake of clarity and or brevity.
For all things VCT-related, make sure to stay tuned to THESPIKE.GG as we continue to update you with the freshest game and esports news.
Featured image credit: Colin Young-Wolf/Riot Games
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