100 Thieves might not be quite on the same level as NA LCS frontrunners Team Liquid, but they’re one step closer after today’s win over Golden Guardians.
Golden Guardians’ recent trajectory in the standings is one of the most tragic storylines of the split so far. They went on a hot streak during the middle of the split, winning several games against the league’s top teams. They completely lost their momentum, though, and have now dropped five games in a row, sliding down from first place all the way to eighth. 100 Thieves, on the other hand, have done quite well.
100T have spent almost the entire split at the very top, teetering back and forth from first to second and back again. After today, they’re once again tied for second with Echo Fox. Liquid are in sole possession of first place, but now, 100T are only one game behind them.
That’s not to say 100T look like a consistently great team, because they haven’t. They’ve had serious issues trying to play with confidence and early proactiveness. Instead, a lot of their wins have relied on the team’s late-game prowess to out-pace less experienced teams in big fights. Today’s game was fine, though. Even early on, they didn’t have much of an issue with Golden Guardians, even though it was close at that point.
If 100T can keep it up, there’s a possibility that we’ll get a repeat of the Spring Split finals—Team Liquid vs. 100 Thieves. While a big rematch like that would be exciting, it’s still way too early to predict anything solid with how tight the standings are.
100T’s next game will be against Echo Fox on Saturday, Aug. 11 at 4pm CT.
