After a making a controversial decision ahead of their semi-final against Team Liquid in the North America League of Legends Championship Series Summer Play-offs, 100 Thieves go searching for answers against Team SoloMid on Saturday.
It was announced that just prior to the opening game of the semi-final that Rikara would be in the starting line-up for 100 Thieves for the Bottom-lane position in place of Cody Sun.
While initially shocking, Cloud9 had similarly brought in substitute players in order to shake things up against Liquid, with that decision paying off for C9. While 100 Thieves were able to take home game one, Rikara had a limited impact and 100 Thieves would proceed to lose the following three games of the series without putting in Cody Sun at any point.
Status unknown
It remains unclear whether Cody Sun will see any playing time during this third-place series. Some on-air talent have suggested a divide between Cody Sun and the coaching staff over how they wanted to play the game was the cause of the rift and eventual benching.
This casts a massive shadow over this match with Rikara at the very least having more preparation should he end up being the starter. It is also worth noting that Rikara was thrown into the fire, playing against the player considered the best in his role and the most lane-focused player in the league in TL’s Doublelift.
Aphromoo must rebound
Outside of the Bottom-lane position, the key members for 100 Thieves are Ssumday and Aphromoo; players voted onto the 1st All-Pro Team after both displayed consistency and solid play throughout the regular season.
However, Aphromoo was one of the players who struggled during the semi-finals, in particular looking out of sync during his time on Rakan. 100 Thieves’ gameplan is built off quality late-game shot calling, typically being able to stall until the later stages of the game due to the pressure that Ssumday is able to produce early on. If Ssumday can get rolling early, 100 Thieves have a chance no matter who their Bottom-lane player is.
TSM edged out
Team SoloMid played an incredibly competitive series against Cloud9, falling 3-2 after being up 2-1. TSM faltered after Cloud9 boldly brought in the pairing of Goldenglue and Svenskeren, players they had previously brought to catch Liquid off guard. The move paid off in spades for Cloud9, as Svenskeren’s more greedy early game style was able to punish the lax controlling style of TSM’s Grig and give C9 the edge they needed to close out the series.
Grig the weak link
For TSM this is a concern moving forward as attempting to take advantage of their weakest player in Grig is sure to be a strategy 100 Thieves will utilise. Fortunately for TSM other members of the team have been stepping up in recent weeks, with Bjergsen in particular returning to his dominant form.
Sticking primarily with assassins, Bjergsen has been the core member of TSM’s late-season surge. Coupled with Bjergsen, however, has been the rise in play from the likes of Bottom-laner Zven. Generally more passive in the early game, he has performed well on the likes of Kai’Sa and Swain.
Top lane the focus
The key match-up for TSM moving into this series is within the Top lane, with Hauntzer looking to keep Ssumday contained. Hauntzer has been up and down for TSM this split, at times making odd decisions in terms of more split-push focused builds when TSM generally tend towards a team fight style. The task for Hauntzer is to keep Ssumday in relative check and allow the likes of Bjergsen to carry the team through to a third-place finish.
The odds suggest it will be TSM who emerge victorious – Dafabet go 1.719 about their chances, with 100 Thieves the 2.150 outsiders.
