From LCS bottom to Worlds top seed: 100 Thieves’ strategic rebuild success story
The Rock Bottom Beginning
100 Thieves underwent one of professional League of Legends’ most dramatic transformations, evolving from the LCS’s least successful squad to its championship-winning powerhouse. This remarkable journey demonstrates how strategic planning can overcome competitive adversity.
On August 29, 2021, 100 Thieves secured North America’s premier seeding for the World Championship, culminating a three-year organizational metamorphosis that took them from league embarrassment to regional dominance.
The 2019 Spring split concluded disastrously for 100 Thieves, suffering their seventh consecutive defeat in a demoralizing 26-minute demolition by OpTic Gaming. They finished the competitive season with a humiliating 4-14 record, the league’s absolute worst performance that season.
Analyst Hai ‘Hai’ Du Lam delivered the brutal assessment: “Perhaps Thieves should consider consulting Cloud9’s academy squad because currently they appear significantly stronger than 100 Thieves.” The comment highlighted how far the organization had fallen from relevance as discussion shifted to more compelling playoff narratives.
The entire 2019 campaign represented an organizational catastrophe for 100 Thieves.
Following their Worlds debut the previous year, the franchise aimed to establish themselves as LCS title contenders. They reconstructed their lineup around marquee acquisition Bae ‘Bang’ Jun-sik, a two-time World Champion. However, the team managed only twelve victories throughout 2019—four during Spring and eight in Summer. Their 8-10 Summer performance provided a slim playoff opportunity, but hopes evaporated with a tiebreaker defeat against OpTic.
Longtime LCS analyst Mark ‘MarkZ’ Zimmerman explained to Dexerto: “When the LCS transitioned to franchising in 2018, considerable unwise investment flooded the scene. However, 100 Thieves stood out as an organization that demonstrated competence. They projected strategic awareness and following 2018 genuinely believed they could compete for an LCS championship. Their roster moves appeared logically sound for achieving that objective—the team synergy simply never materialized.”
In the aftermath of the disastrous 2019 season, 100 Thieves initiated comprehensive organizational reconstruction.
Architecting the Rebuild
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The reconstruction initiative would be guided by a newly created General Manager position within 100 Thieves’ organizational structure. To occupy this crucial role, they recruited celebrated LCK caster Christopher ‘PapaSmithy’ Smith, widely respected as one of professional League’s most insightful analytical minds.
Welcome Chris Smith (@PapaSmithy), our new League of Legends General Manager!
Previously an LCK caster for 4+ years, Chris is one of the most well-respected analysts / commentators in the industry. We’re thrilled to bring him to NA & can’t wait to build more for 100T LoL. #100T pic.twitter.com/5ixH4Gm1uQ
— 100 Thieves (@100Thieves) September 4, 2019
With leadership established, the meticulous process of rebuilding 100 Thieves into a competitive force could commence.
“Success extends beyond simply acquiring elite players,” PapaSmithy explained to Dexerto. “It transcends mere fortunate circumstances. The essential element involves constructing comprehensive infrastructure so when favorable opportunities arise, every component aligns to make achievement the inevitable outcome.
“From the initial stages, we established a robust conceptual framework defining our organizational identity and the requirements for accomplishing our competitive objectives.”
Professional esports organizations often fail by prioritizing short-term roster fixes over systemic development. 100 Thieves’ approach under PapaSmithy emphasized building sustainable competitive advantages through infrastructure, player development pipelines, and strategic vision alignment across all organizational levels.
Roster Evolution Process
The inaugural roster assembled during the rebuild struggled throughout the initial two-thirds of the 2020 Spring split but mounted an impressive resurgence during the regular season’s final weeks, securing third position with a 10-8 record. However, consecutive playoff defeats relegated them to sixth place for the split.
Additional roster adjustments followed, with support specialist William ‘Stunt’ Chen transitioning to coaching responsibilities and jungler William ‘Meteos’ Hartman reassigned to the academy division.
The modified lineup, now incorporating academy prospects Juan Arturo ‘Contractz’ Garcia and Philippe ‘Poome’ Lavoie-Giguere, showed minimal improvement. They concluded the Summer split with a 7-11 record, qualifying for playoffs as the seventh seed. A first-round elimination in the losers’ bracket terminated 100 Thieves’ competitive season.
These outcomes aligned with rebuilding expectations—the initial reconstruction year focuses primarily on talent evaluation and determining effective combinations.
“When championship victory represents the ultimate objective, seventh or eighth place finishes inevitably disappoint,” PapaSmithy reflected regarding the season. “However, 2020 functioned as my educational year while adapting to unfamiliar responsibilities.
“We needed identifying effective strategies, and I required determining optimal approaches for fulfilling my role. We observed substantial achievement within our amateur program and the developmental pipeline we established.”
100 Thieves implemented significant lineup modifications for 2021, constructing their foundation around toplaner Kim ‘Ssumday’ Chan-ho, who had served as starting player for virtually every split since their Worlds appearance three years earlier.
For the remaining positions, they acquired the complete Golden Guardians roster, appointing jungler Can ‘Closer’ Çelik, midlaner Tanner ‘Damonte’ Damonte, AD carry Victor ‘FBI’ Huang, and support specialist Choi ‘huhi’ Jae-hyun to starting roles.
And the final piece of the puzzle…
Welcome @Huhi to 100 Thieves as our starting support for the 2021 LCS season! #100T pic.twitter.com/GyrwrOfp3o
— 100 Thieves (@100Thieves) November 19, 2020
For huhi, this represented a organizational homecoming. He previously served as midlaner during the disastrous 2019 Spring campaign, departing shortly after the split concluded. Now competing as support, he received a second opportunity to contribute to a competitive 100 Thieves lineup.
“Entering 2021, we felt genuinely optimistic about our player acquisitions,” PapaSmithy stated. “We believed they embodied our organizational vision and could form a lineup capable of championship contention.”
Successful esports rebuilds typically follow identifiable patterns: establish veteran leadership, integrate promising talent, and maintain flexibility for mid-season adjustments. 100 Thieves demonstrated mastery of this methodology through their patient, data-informed approach to roster construction.
Breakthrough Season
Spring 2021 delivered inconsistent results for 100 Thieves.
FBI and huhi demonstrated exceptional performance, continuing their formidable bot lane synergy. FBI ranked fifth in AD Carry KDA metrics, while huhi achieved second position in assists and gold differential at 15 minutes among support players. Closer delivered strong, though statistically average, jungle performance. However, Ssumday and Damonte encountered significant difficulties.
Midlane circumstances deteriorated sufficiently for Damonte, who recorded the second-lowest KDA, poorest gold and experience differentials, and shared highest first blood victim rate among primary midlaners, that he was substituted after twelve matches. Academy prospect Tommy ‘Ryoma’ Le, previously the starting midlaner during 2020, competed in the final six split matches.
Thieves concluded with an 11-7 record and qualified for the Spring playoffs, rebranded as the Mid-Season Showdown, as fourth seed. They offered minimal resistance against Cloud9, the eventual champions, suffering a sweep into the Losers’ Bracket. Following a victory against Dignitas, Thieves fell short against TSM. Nevertheless, positive developments emerged for Summer: their fourth-place finish represented their strongest performance since Summer 2018.
They approached their 2019-established objective of championship contention but hadn’t quite reached that level.
Preparing for Summer, Thieves implemented two modifications. Ryoma returned to academy in exchange for Felix ‘Abbedagge’ Braun, regarded among Europe’s elite midlaners following an impressive LEC playoff campaign with Schalke 04.
Head coach Tony ‘Ziks’ Gray, associated with the team since Spring 2019, was also released. As replacement, 100 Thieves recruited longtime Cloud9 head coach Bok ‘Reapered’ Han-gyu, a four-time LCS Coach of the Split recipient and precisely the strategic intellect the organization required.
An immediate transformation occurred. Ssumday improved from the second-worst toplane KDA to third-best. Closer completely controlled the jungle, the sole primary jungler exceeding a five KDA. Abbedagge provided the high-impact midlane presence the team previously lacked. All components finally synchronized perfectly.
100 Thieves surged to an 18-9 record, matching the Summer split’s best performance. Due to format modifications incorporating Spring results, 100 Thieves entered Summer playoffs as second seed with a combined 29-16 record.
Mid-season roster adjustments represent high-risk, high-reward strategies in professional League. Successful organizations identify specific weaknesses and target upgrades that complement existing strengths rather than overhauling functional components. 100 Thieves demonstrated this precision by addressing only their most critical deficiencies.
Championship Run
The summer playoffs unfolded as an underdog narrative for 100 Thieves, with conventional wisdom favoring Team Liquid, Cloud9, or TSM capturing the championship.
Beginning one victory from the Winners’ Final, 100 Thieves endured a demanding back-and-forth series against Evil Geniuses to become North America’s initial Worlds 2021 qualifier. To advance to the Grand Final, however, they needed defeating Team Liquid, the favorites for top seeding who had overcome Cloud9 and TSM.
This became a series 100 Thieves allowed escaping their control. After three games, they led 2-1 and stood one victory from Grand Final qualification. However, defeat in games four and five relegated them to the Losers’ Final.
Welcome to the 2021 #LCS Championship Finals, @TeamLiquidLoL! #LCS pic.twitter.com/XcY2QoKBd6
— LCS (@LCSOfficial) August 22, 2021
There they encountered Cloud9, who secured their Worlds qualification at TSM’s expense. Cloud9 had captured the Spring split championship and pursued their first top seeding since 2013.
100 Thieves dominated, achieving a 3-1 victory and advancing to the Grand Final. The confrontation against Team Liquid revisited the Spring 2018 Grand Finals. On that occasion, Team Liquid established the fastest Grand Final record, completing a 3-0 sweep in merely 1:23:18.
But 100 Thieves ultimately reached their competitive apex. A helpless Team Liquid could only observe as the Thieves secured the Summer 2021 championship, and North America’s premier Worlds seeding, through a 3-0, 1:24:13 competitive masterpiece.
TAKE WHAT’S NOT GIVEN.
NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONS 💯🏆🔥#100T #LCS pic.twitter.com/x7smWweTvZ
— 100 Thieves (@100Thieves) August 29, 2021
“They ultimately discovered the synergistic team composition,” MarkZ observed. “I believe many underestimated or disregarded them due to previous slumps and bracket discourse. However, 100 Thieves constituted a formidable squad and 2021 represented the year their strategic plan achieved fruition.”
While some expressed surprise regarding 100 Thieves’ emergent success, PapaSmithy perceived differently, having participated throughout the process and witnessed incremental improvements.
“Every organizational member contributed to this achievement,” he stated. “LCS championship victory represented our targeted objective and each decision, every move constituted our strategic plan components. We constructed our success infrastructure and now witness the results.”
Playoff success in esports often hinges on psychological resilience as much as mechanical skill. Teams that navigate losers’ bracket runs demonstrate exceptional mental fortitude, using early defeats as learning opportunities rather than demoralizing setbacks. 100 Thieves exemplified this championship mentality throughout their playoff campaign.
Worlds 2021 Prospects
“I avoid establishing rigid expectations,” PapaSmithy commented regarding Worlds objectives. “Quarterfinal qualification or similar targets don’t represent our focus. We aim delivering performances satisfying NA supporters and demonstrating our capabilities on that stage.”
Consistent with his philosophical approach, PapaSmithy views this as preparation for future achievement.
“We must extract value from our Worlds performance. It should function as a developmental platform for 2022 and subsequent seasons.”
100 Thieves’ Worlds 2021 roster possesses substantial international expertise. Reapered, Ssumday, Closer, and huhi have all previously competed at Worlds, providing invaluable understanding of League’s premier competitive stage. However, 100 Thieves don’t rely exclusively on that prior exposure, according to PapaSmithy.
“Possessing experienced coaches and players familiar with Worlds competition represents a significant advantage,” he explained. “However, we consistently ensure our athletes prepare for such moments. We want them approaching every match with Worlds-stage intensity.”
North American Worlds performances have become internet memes in recent seasons. Teams consistently underdeliver, epitomized by first seed TSM’s 0-6 Group Stage disaster at Worlds 2020.
However, MarkZ considers this reputation partially unjustified.
“I believe people overlook that North America didn’t perform terribly at last year’s Worlds,” he noted. “Certainly, TSM struggled significantly, but both Team Liquid and Flyquest achieved 3-3 records in exceptionally challenging groups.”
PapaSmithy expresses confidence that his team can successfully bear North America’s representative burden.
“I perceive that supporters have lost faith in North America recently,” PapaSmithy stated. “However, we stand prepared demonstrating LCS competitiveness, that North American teams can contend at Worlds.”
Before the group stage draw, MarkZ suggested “3-3” constituted a reasonable 100 Thieves objective, with expectations naturally dependent on group composition.
100 Thieves confront LPL top seed EDward Gaming, LCK third seed T1, and LJL play-ins qualifier DetonatioN FocusMe. The draw enabled avoiding squads like DWG KIA and MAD Lions, but 100 Thieves nevertheless face formidable challenges.
If the team replicates their Summer performance, they might participate in a three-team struggle for second position. However, if 100 Thieves aspire advancing to knockout stages, they absolutely must secure victories against T1 and DFM. Even then, qualification might require enduring tiebreaker competitions.
DJ Esports betting odds position 100 Thieves as substantial underdogs versus EDward Gaming, slight underdogs against T1, and marginal favorites facing DetonatioN FocusMe.
Nobody anticipates 100 Thieves succeeding. But they constitute an organization perpetually prepared demonstrating skeptics mistaken.
International competition introduces unique challenges beyond regional play, including meta adaptations, jet lag management, and unfamiliar opponent strategies. Successful Worlds campaigns require flexible game plans and the ability to quickly analyze and counter unfamiliar playstyles—skills 100 Thieves developed throughout their rebuilding process.
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