Photo by Riot Games/Bruno Alvares & Pedro Pavanato

With Champions Shanghai right around the corner, I’m going to take a deep dive into each VCT Americas team’s strengths, weaknesses, X-Factors, and their path to winning their opening round matchups.

Group A has the No. 1 seed from Americas, 100 Thieves. The Thieves are matched up with T1, who are the fourth seed from Pacific. I believe 100T is one of the top three teams in the world, and think this game is a toss-up, dependent on the T1 we see against T1.

If we see the T1 that dominated teams like FULL SENSE and DetonatioN FocusMe, we could be in for a fun game. But if we see the T1 that dropped matches to Global Esports and Nongshim RedForce, it could get brutal very quickly.

Here’s a look at 100T’s opening matchup against T1.

X-Factor 1: The Map Pool

The deciding factor for this game could be the map pool. Summit has been T1’s permanent ban, which is a map that 100T has shown it can play. 100T had a 13-8 win over LOUD in Week 4 of Stage 2 and a 13-7 win over LEVIATÁN in the Upper Semifinal. 100T’s most recent Summit, however, was a 13-1 loss to LOUD during the Grand Final.

The other map I am looking at for this matchup is Lotus. 100T perma-banned Lotus up until its match against LEV in the Upper Semifinals, where it floated the map, allowing for LEV to pick it. The outcome was a 13-2 win for 100T, which led to questions over whether the map could be a viable pick for a team that already looked strong in the current map pool.

On the other side, T1 has had Lotus as one of its strongest maps while playing in Pacific, not losing on the map in all of Stage 2, where it went a perfect 6-0.

Seeing as 100T used to have Lotus as a perma ban, it will be very intriguing to see how the map ban process plays out. Whether 100T chooses to float it and ban another map

X-Factor 2: Experience and Confidence

I believe this 100T team has six main X Factors that it must rely on if it wishes to beat T1.

First, handling the pressure of its first major international will be big. Most of this 100T roster has been on the international stage before, with Asuna and Cryocells competing at Masters Shanghai in 2024 and bang competing at all three international events last year with Sentinels. In the coaching booth, Nbs and d00mbr0s have two trophies to their name, lifting Champions 2021 and Masters Copenhagen individually.

Rookies Timotino and Vora have also picked up some valuable experience from playing against LOUD in São Paulo and playing in Americas Ascension there, too, while with TSM. While it as in front of a smaller crowd, this year’s 100T team also competed at the Esports World Cup between Stage 1 and Stage 2, lifting the trophy with just four maps dropped through the entire event.

I had the chance to pitch a question to 100T Assistant Coach d00mbr0s about how the EWC experience might help the team internationally.

“EWC was a major factor in the confidence of our team,” d00mbr0s said. “We have 2 new rookies, and in general a young team. So gaining meaningful stage experience, especially during tournament formats and not a weekly groups format, is very valuable.”

The coach, in his first year with the North American org, said that managing the mental side of the game is a big priority on the international stage, too.

“Confidence is all about knowing that you can do it, and the only way to know that you can do it is to win matches on those stages,” he said. “There is a lot we can take with us: our routines, how we deal with unexpected problems, how to handle prep when the timeframe between matches are shorter, and also what energy we need to bring to each other during the match.”

While factors like jet lag, diet, and practice will undoubtedly be priorities, d00mbr0s said that confidence will always be at the forefront.

He said: “Most important is just the confidence for the players, and the belief that they can win it all.”

X-Factor 3: Pressure? What Pressure?

One of the most interesting things about Champions will be the size of the crowd. If you’ve watched VCT China at any point this year, you’ve seen the crowds that the region can pull. The Champions stage will be the biggest crowd this 100T team has ever played in front of all year, so it will be big to see how the players can handle a much bigger crowd.

bang is the only player on the team to have played at a Champions event in the partnership era. Seeing how the 100T players handle the pressure of playing in front of a big crowd could be telling, especially against T1.

The Korean squad has one of the most experienced rosters in all of VCT, with Munchkin, stax, iZu, Meteor, and BuZz. All five of these players have been cornerstones for VCT Pacifics on T1 and on other rosters, and have all lifted VCT trophies.

Will 100T be able to handle the pressure the same way that a T1 roster with a combined 46 international appearances will? We will have to see.

X-Factor 4: Asuna’s Phoenix

Asuna has been one of the best players in the world during Stage 2 heading into Champions, holding a 1.19 VLR rating, lifting the Stage 2 trophy, and being named the Grand Final MVP. All the while, he has looked like one of the best Phoenix players in the world.

I’ve marked Asuna himself down as an X Factor for 100T due to his performances, but also because he has slipped in some maps. On Summit, he went 3/13 in 100T’s 13-1 loss to LOUD, and he also went 8/15 in the 13-7 win over LEV.

Of course, K/D doesn’t mean everything. However, if Asuna is playing towards his top form, like his 67/45 statline from the three-map series against G2 Esports, this 100T team is almost unstoppable.

X-Factor 5: Who’s Stepping Up?

My last X-Factor for 100T is the fact that it feels like any player on this squad can take over the game at any given time. Whether you’re watching this 100T team play or just looking at the stats, it’s obvious this is a team that has five shooters.

Here are just a few instances of the 100T players popping off through Stage 2:

• Cryocells vs. KRÜ Esports in Week 2: 35/18, 1.40 VLR Rating
• bang vs. LOUD in Week 4: 43/26, 1.46 VLR Rating
• vora vs. LEVIATÁN in the Upper Semifinals: 35/16, 1.47 VLR Rating
• bang vs. NRG in the Upper Final: 32/19, 1.39 VLR Rating
• Cryocells vs. LOUD on Sunset (Map 2) in the Grand Final: 24/14, 1.43 VLR Rating
• Timotino vs. LOUD on Haven (Map 5) in the Grand Final: 27/15, 1.47 VLR Rating

Overall, I would give 100T a 65-70% chance to win this game to start its run to lift the Champions trophy in Shanghai.

100 Thieves will play their first match of Champions Shanghai vs. T1 on September 27 at 2 a.m. PST/5 a.m.EST, or 5 p.m. local time.