In 2022, 100 Thieves has their sights set on Valorant Champions. They’ve made a few changes to their lineup. Will they be able to demonstrate their potential?
Despite strong performances throughout 2021, 100 Thieves were unable to qualify for VALORANT Champions. The organization made a decision to make changes during the offseason. This included promoting Jovanni “Jovi” Vera, a former analyst, to head coach. Jovi discussed his transition, including how he picked up “ec1s” and “BabyJ,” as well as how his background has aided him.
Jovi described his transition to head coach as “interesting” because he had been the one conducting research on other teams and relaying information to former 100T head coach “FrosT.” He believes that the work he did behind the scenes aided him in becoming the coach he is today.
The amount of work required when taking over the role of coach is one of the transition’s challenges. While Jovi’s work as an analyst helped him gather more information on the opposing teams, as the coach, he now has a lot more responsibilities.
During the offseason, 100 Thieves fielded replacements for “steel” and “nitr0,” in addition to a new coach. Steel was transferred to T1 for the upcoming 2022 season, while nitr0 returned to Counter-Strike after a year in VALORANT. There were many rumors about who 100 Thieves would be picking up.
According to sources, the team targeted former VALORANT Champions winner Mehmet Yaz “cNed” pek. According to reports, they were also pursuing Ethan Arnold’s former teammate Vincent “Brehze” Cayonte, who remained in Counter-Strike.
Jovi explained that the team had a vision of how they wanted to play. That’s how ec1s, the former Team Liquid in-game leader, and a player from FaZe Clan joined the team. These aren’t as well-known as cNed and Brehze, but they’re still top-tier talent.
The high internet ping is one of the drawbacks of having a player from the United Kingdom. Regardless of the ping differences, ec1s has been deemed a worthy replacement for the team. According to Ec1s’ Twitch streams, he was practicing with a ping of up to 120. However, ec1s was eventually granted a visa and was able to join the team at boot camp.
