100T Valorant team “on edge” as VCT Americas playoff race enters decisive phase
Marv Watson/Riot GamesIn an interview with Dexerto, 100 Thieves Valorant IGL Brenden ‘stellar’ McGrath said that his team is a bit on edge amid a tight race for spots in the VCT Americas playoffs.
100 Thieves are among the tight pack of VCT Americas teams that are vying for a spot in the VCT Americas playoff stage. The team has a 4-4 record after the win against FURIA and is tied with three other squads heading into the final week of the regular season.
In the aftermath of the match against FURIA, stellar said that his squad has been in high spirits despite the recent back-to-back defeats to NRG and LOUD and that everyone is aware of the challenge ahead.
“It’s not doom and gloom,” stellar told Dexerto about the team’s mentality. “I think everyone’s on edge, definitely. There’s a lot more pressure involved, given the circumstances with the season now, and expectations from fans, it’s just basic stuff. But it definitely adds a little bit of pressure overall, week to week.”
100 Thieves fans had expectations that the squad would contend for the VCT Americas trophy. The team reached last year’s Valorant Champions event and placed top-eight at VCT LOCK//IN, where they were defeated by eventual winners Fnatic after beating EDward Gaming and FUT Esports.
100T is not guaranteed a VCT Americas playoff spot
stellar said the squad isn’t cramming more practice in to get prepared for their final match against MIBR. They are trying to use their time wisely without worrying too much about the “added pressure” of these late split games.
“It’s just like repetition in scrims and then come match time we all should be able to just be doing it and doing the things that we talked about, making sure we’re recapping it. If we need to remind ourselves of it during the match, than so be it,” he said.
100 Thieves’ players have talked previously about how they still need to work on small things to join the upper echelon of teams in VCT Americas. While everyone in the league can capitalize on mistakes, teams like NRG and LOUD excel at punishing even the smallest of errors.
According to stellar, his team can cut out those mistakes by becoming hyper-consistent and changing up their play constantly. But reaching that goal might have to wait until after the split.
“We’re aspiring to obviously be consistent. I think we’re aspiring to be a team that’s not super readable or preparable for, but, you know, we’re a long way from that. We’re just doing our best to get through to the playoffs right now,” stellar said.
100 Thieves will play in the final match of the VCT Americas split against MIBR on May 20. The match will potentially have major league tie-breaker ramifications and decide the fate of multiple teams.