100 Thieves advance to Grand Final of LCS Championship after 3-1 victory over Cloud9

After a 3-1 victory over Cloud9 in the lower bracket finals of the 2021 LCS Championship, 100 Thieves punched their ticket to the Grand Finals of the LCS postseason and the Group Stage of the 2021 League of Legends World Championship. 

With today’s victory, 100 Thieves will advance to Worlds as no less than a Pool Two team. Should they defeat Team Liquid in tomorrow’s Grand Final, they’ll head to Worlds as a Pool One team alongside other major region champions from China, Korea, and Europe. 

The second game of the series brought 100 Thieves’ most impressive victory of the day in a 49-minute back-and-forth affair, which served as one of the longest games of the LCS season. Across those 49 minutes, 100 Thieves did not hold the gold lead even once. 

From start to finish in that one particular game (which served as a microcosm of the full series), Cloud9 held the edge in nearly every major category—gold, kills, and objectives—but 100 Thieves still eked out a win. With that in mind, it’s clear why Cloud9 struggled to truly hold onto any advantage they might have accrued over 100 Thieves during the course of today’s series. 

If 100 Thieves want to continue racking up momentum and have a chance against a red-hot Team Liquid squad that beat them just a few weeks back, they’ll have to find a victory through the stellar play of their bottom lane. In the games that 100 Thieves won, FBI proved to be a decisive factor, posting a combined scoreline of 19/3/14 across the team’s three victories.

As for Cloud9, they’ll have to play through the Play-in Stage of the World Championship later this year. Cloud9’s loss cemented them as the second team in the world to confirm their place in the Play-ins of Worlds. Earlier today, Rogue of the LEC became one of the other western teams to secure their spot in the Play-ins after a lower bracket loss to Fnatic over in Europe. 

Last season, Team Liquid represented North America at the Play-in Stage of Worlds, but the team circumvented the process altogether this year by beating both Cloud9 and 100 Thieves in earlier rounds of the postseason. 

The 2021 LCS Championship Grand Finals between Team Liquid and 100 Thieves kick off tomorrow, Aug. 29, at 3pm CT.  

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