100 Thieves have officially been crowned the Regional Champions for the North American First Strike event after defeating TSM. Multiple weeks of preparation and qualifiers led up to this momentous online tournament between the titans of North America.
Over 130 different amateur and professional teams entered the competition with a $100,000 prize pool. However, some teams were unable to make it past the first two qualifiers and onto the main event. Even large organizations like Cloud9 and NRG Esports were unable to make the final eight.
The best VALORANT Team in NA, congrats @100Thieves! 🏆 #FirstStrike pic.twitter.com/ywhDKVx2Ny
— VALORANT Champions Tour (@ValorantEsports) December 7, 2020
100 Thieves first started off as an unimpressive team that was only able to defeat amateur teams. After a lack of performance, the organization let all but Spencer “Hiko” Martin go. The team was soon replaced with veteran CSGO talents like Nick “Nitr0” Cannella and Josh “Steel” Nissan. The team was later finished with two 17-year-olds who had previously played for Immortals.
After the team was officially completed, they only had a few months before the first major event. 100 Thieves hadn’t played together at another tournament outside of First Strike. This meant that most teams had no idea how they played together which they used that to their advantage and made it to the final qualifier before First Strike.
100 Thieves steamroll their way to victory
100 Thieves did not have the easiest pathway to the First Strike event in December. Along the way, they defeated dominant teams such as Sentinels, TSM, T1, and more. Eventually, they were tasked with defeating TSM if they wanted to become the champions of First Strike. TSM had battled their way through the first two qualifiers and took down Envy to cement themselves in the final.
LETS GO. #100T
Map 1 goes into double overtime, but the squad brings it home.
Map 2 coming up next: https://t.co/Iyx7HuM8Vs#100T | #FirstStrike pic.twitter.com/hwiUco4sod
— 100 Thieves Esports (@100T_Esports) December 6, 2020
TSM was looking hot coming into the finals of First Strike since they had dominated most teams before them. However, 100 Thieves had also been on a hot streak themselves by taking down teams in a quick fashion.
Game 1 seemingly determined the pace of the game as it went into overtime with 100 Thieves winning 15-13 on Split. Map 2 had both teams fighting for the lead on Bind, but it went the way of the Thieves 13-11. Ascent would be the third, and potentially final, map of the series and was favored by 100T. However, TSM bounced back and was able to win 13-7.
Map 2 is ours.
1 more. #100T | #FirstStrike pic.twitter.com/nZSBorCBAY
— 100 Thieves Esports (@100T_Esports) December 6, 2020
Haven would be the third map in the series, picked by 100 Thieves to potentially win them the tournament. In an intense back-and-forth, 100 Thieves managed to pull ahead and win 13-7. Valorant’s First Strike event was extremely successful and saw the rise and fall of many teams across all regions. Who was your favorite team to watch?
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