100 Thieves steel on TSM: “If there’s a god and you make them bleed, you know you can take them down”

100 Thieves advanced to the VALORANT First Strike: North America grand finals today—and only one team stands between them and the trophy.

100 Thieves took out Sentinels in a close 2-1 semifinals match today. But tomorrow they’ll take on a TSM team that is firing on all cylinders, especially with their new three-duelist comp. While many consider TSM to be one of the best teams in NA, Joshua “steel” Nissan feels the matchup has potential to “go either way.”

“If there’s a god and you make them bleed, you know you can take them down,” steel told Dot Esports. “It’s not like we’re sitting here putting them on a pedestal. We know that we can beat them… The only thing that’s going to prevent us from taking home this trophy is going to be ourselves.”

In November’s NSG Closed Qualifier, 100 Thieves swept TSM 2-0. The team then went on to beat Sentinels before falling to Team Envy in the grand final. And with everything on the line tomorrow, steel believes his team is capable of beating them again.

But TSM are looking a bit different since 100 Thieves last faced them. After the sentinels were nerfed in Patch 1.11, TSM began experimenting with three duelists to emphasize firepower and aggression. And steel admits it’s going to be “a different look” for 100 Thieves because they don’t have a lot of reps against the strat.

Ultimately, steel feels his team is ready.

“We just need to understand… that we’re prepared for them,” he said. “We’ve beaten them before, so we’re capable of it.”

Tomorrow’s grand finals match between 100 Thieves and TSM kicks off at 3pm CT.