100 Thieves and Envy move onto the upper bracket final at the VALORANT Champions Tour Stage 2 Challengers and secure their spots at the Regional Finals.
Envy and 100 Thieves have not faced off against each other since the JBL Quantum Cup after First Strike concluded in December. That was back when 100 Thieves still had Quan “Dicey” Tran on the roster. Since then, Ethan “Ethan” Arnold has stepped in to replace Dicey as the team began to switch up agent combinations.
Both teams struggled to perform at their usual standards during Masters and ultimately exited the tournament early. Despite their premature exit, Envy and 100 Thieves remain the 2nd and 4th best teams in North America according to TheSpikeGG. 100 Thieves have not won a high-profile tournament since First Strike and have taken extra time to find their footing with Ethan. Envy recently swept Sentinels at the Finals of VCT Stage 1 Challengers 2 to qualify for Masters. Both teams are hungry for the opportunity to win another tournament in 2021.
100 Thieves defeat Cloud9 Blue, Envy defeat XSET
The last time 100 Thieves faced off against Cloud9 Blue was during the group stage of the Nerd Street Gamers First Strike qualifier. That version of the roster still featured Tyson “TenZ” Ngo who has since stepped away from C9 and joined Sentinels. While 100 Thieves was able to push C9B to a game three back in November, C9B ultimately took the game.
HE DOESN'T MISS! @Hiko #100T | #VCT pic.twitter.com/VO6Kz8SEDV
— 100 Thieves Esports (@100T_Esports) April 9, 2021
Now with Ethan, 100 Thieves were able to prevail over the team that has suffered several roster swaps. Icebox was close, picked by C9, and was tied 6-6 at the half with 100 Thieves on defense. However, in the second half 100 Thieves took four consecutive rounds to push them to ten rounds overall. After an impressive performance from Peter “Asuna” Mazuryk, 100 Thieves closed out map one 13-10. Ascent was much more one-sided in the favor of Thieves who took the lead 8-4 at the half on attack. C9 attempted to regain the lead but ultimately fell 13-6.
Envy’s match against XSET appeared to be more of a speed run attempt than a full-fledged match. Haven was tied 6-6 at the half with XSET on defense, but in the second half, Envy refused to give XSET breathing room. Envy went 7-0 in the second half, not allowing XSET to take one round to secure the map 13-6. Ascent was a similar story to Haven with Envy hitting XSET hard in the first half by going up 9-3. However, XSET recovered somewhat in the second half, managing five more rounds before losing the game 13-8 in the end.
