100 Thieves have turned their IEM New York 2020 fortunes around after their early loss to Chaos, taking home consecutive victories against Brazilian squad Team One and NA favorites Team Liquid over the weekend.
Australian outfit 100 Thieves have bounced back in style after a sluggish start at IEM New York 2020. Given their recent form, their loss to Chaos came as a shock.
Chaos’ roster has been plagued by more shuffles, with Collin “wrath” McSweegan standing in for Edgar “MarKE” Maldonado. But, they stayed true to their name, and brought the fight to the boys on their map, Nuke.
Posting a miserable five round CT-half, 100 Thieves looked to make a move on their T-side to save the game. Dropping the pistol and second round force buy did the Thieves no favours as they faced a 12-5 deficit that proved insurmountable as Chaos ran off with the map, closing it out 16-7.
100 Thieves found themselves starting on the T-side of Dust 2, where they once again faltered to the Chaos defence. Hoping that six rounds would be enough at the half time, the Australian side crumbled, letting Dust 2 slip away 16-9 and giving the North American squad the 2-0 series win.
Team One were the next opponent for the Thieves after a single day break in competition. With the two teams currently 1-1 in the standings, this series was important in further securing a spot in the playoffs.
Failing to veto in time for the series, the South American’s map picks were randomised, taking the series to Vertigo as their pick. 100 Thieves have had a streaky performance on the map throughout Pro League Finals but have shown dominance at times, particularly in their opening New York match.
A pistol round victory pocketed the Aussies a three-round lead before Team One took to aggressive plays on their CT side with Pedro “Maluk3” Campos showing proficiency on the AWP. It took the Thieves seven rounds before posting another of their own and understanding how to play around the CT side of Team One.
With economic control on the side of 100 Thieves, they clawed it back to lock in an eight round T-side. Team One replied with a pistol victory of their own as the game continued to go back and forward.
Aaron “AZR” Ward pulled the team through their T Half, but it would take more from the Australian side to convert the map into a victory. As both teams desperately traded rounds back and forward, it would be Justin “Jks” Savage who would shine as they broke the economy of the South American squad at 13-10.
Joakin “Jkaem” Myrbostad came to life alongside Jks, and ultimately the duo were the difference makers on the CT side, allowing them to tie it up at 14-14 where the Thieves pushed on for map point. Jay “Liazz” Tregillgas put on a display in the final round with his B-site defence and 4 kills to his name in the round.
With a mix of individual plays and team brilliance we see @100Thieves take the 2-0 series win against @teamoneesports! #IEM
— Intel®ExtremeMasters (@IEM) October 10, 2020
📺: https://t.co/fTBRGuUiMV pic.twitter.com/1xhGCOoC6O
Inferno was then the pick of 100 Thieves, although it didn’t start with a bang after a clumsy pistol round loss. 100 Thieves were not shaken despite how close some of the rounds were, leading at the half with 11 rounds on the board.
Mario “malbsMd” Samayoa denied 100 Thieves the second pistol too with an ace as the Brazilians looked to rebound. While it was a back-and-forth affair, Jkaem managed to close out the game 16-12, locking the series sweep for the Aussies.
In their final match of the weekend, the Thieves faced arguably their biggest challenge yet, Team Liquid. The NA veterans were labelled favourites in the group and did not hold back in their series against the Thieves.
Liquid chose to open the series on Nuke and outclassed the Aussies on their T-side with an 11-4 lead at the half. Things didn’t get better after the swap, with the deficit proving to be too large for The Boys to overcome as Liquid closed out the map 16-7.
100 Thieves replied on Vertigo, where they put on a show throughout their T half with Jks and Jkaem once again on the frontlines. The Thieves denied Keith “NAF” Markovic’s best attempts to bring Liquid back into Vertigo, taking the win 16-11 and forcing a third-map decider.
On the final map of Inferno, the Australian side looked comfortable as they demanded map control and the bomb sites from Liquid in the first half. A commendable 8-7 T-side half gave the Thieves room to play with as they looked to set up a strong CT defence. Slow to kick off, 100 Thieves came to life with B site retakes that discouraged Liquid from attempting to take the site.
Welcome to the @Gratisfaction show as he shuts down the attack with a 3K! 🔥🔥 #IEM pic.twitter.com/PVNBQ2Wsl0
— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) October 11, 2020
Gratisfaction could not be stopped on the AWP
The Australian squad ran away with the map in a convincing fashion and ended their three day run of matches 3-1 in Group B, tied for first with Liquid.
Mythic will be their final opponent, with 100 Thieves’ final placing in the group depending on both their match and the outcome of Team Liquid’s final match versus RBG.
100 Thieves play their final match in the group stage against Mythic on Wednesday, October 13, at 9:30am AEDT.
You can catch the action live on the ESL Twitch channel.
