'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAQAAAQABAAD/2wCEAAMDAwMDAwQEBAQFBQUFBQcHBgYHBwsICQgJCAsRCwwLCwwLEQ8SDw4PEg8bFRMTFRsfGhkaHyYiIiYwLTA+PlQBAwMDAwMDBAQEBAUFBQUFBwcGBgcHCwgJCAkICxELDAsLDAsRDxIPDg8SDxsVExMVGx8aGRofJiIiJjAtMD4+VP/AABEIAAUACgMBIgACEQEDEQH/xABjAAEBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABggQAAIBAwQDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAECAwAEEQUGEiETFHIBAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMFEQEBAQACAQUAAAAAAAAAAAABAgMAEQUGITFBUf/aAAwDAQACEQMRAD8AzJt2ytk0viYYpW1GWSNvMvNI/WCSKyDo5JYg94qIlm280jk6OwJYkhLplUfIwcClKZuqpWlfb5e/o5V2xyPTvitSJNNHduw6qk1uTtPwk5//2Q=='%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
The VCT Americas League is slowly progressing into its third week, with 10 Valorant-partnered teams having showcased exceptional performances so far in the competition. Week 2's last game featured 100 Thieves coming out on top against Evil Geniuses in a best-of-three series, where the former displayed excellent gameplay. Fans are excited to see how the North American roster progresses into the Playoffs after a strong second game in the Regular Season.
While Evil Geniuses failed to win against 100T, they still tried their level best. It is yet to be seen which squad will achieve the ultimate victory in the VCT Americas League and get a chance to qualify for both the Masters and Champions events in 2023.
100 Thieves bang shares his thoughts on their game against Evil Geniuses and more at VCT Americas League
Sean "bang" Bezerra is an American Valorant player who is professionally playing for the 100 Thieves at the moment. He is known for filling the Controller role on his roster and has displayed many exceptional performances in the Valorant esports scene.
In an interview with Kushal Bhattacharyya of Sportskeeda, bang was asked to share his thoughts on the matchup against Evil Geniuses from Week 2 of the VCT Americas League.
Q: Do you feel the roster has received a mental reset after the opening game against Sentinels? If yes, how has that helped you guys perform today against EG?
bang: Yeah, I think we took a really good look at all the mistakes we made in our match against Sentinels. Even in scrims, we started focusing on not making these small mistakes. We started correcting them, and we performed a lot better in our scrims because of this. We went overtime with our efforts after the game against Sentinels.
Q: How did you guys manage to maintain such good retakes throughout the series today?
bang: It was just good reading from our side. Like what kind of map control they have, having a good idea, especially on Icebox. Like, the focus on the parts they are going to take when they are executing. So we prepared for that. For example, they were playing Snowman, so we played for the Snowman push on Icebox.
It was pretty easy; pretty obvious that they were going to do that. We maintained a mad advantage before the retakes could even happen.
Q: How did you guys feel incorporating Gekko into the game today?
bang: We felt pretty confident on it. We scrimmed with it and had good results with it. So, we felt pretty confident going into the match. It was a good Agent, and the way we played it, we really liked it.
Q: Do you think the Agent adds a lot of value to the composition when replacing other Initiators on a map like Haven?
bang: I mean, one of the most common Agents that people would bring to the composition would be Breach, and we tried that. We really think that bringing a new Agent, in general, is always good to use. People haven't been scrimming for a while against it. It's always that extra factor that people need to be prepared for.
So there is a trade. I'd say it's not the best when it comes to taking information. But it has a very gimmicky feeling about it, especially with planting the bomb. We like playing like that.
Q: What were your expectations for taking EG today in the VCT Americas League?
bang: We always give every team a good amount of respect. We do our best to not do small mistakes like over-peeking and overheating. We definitely expected to win this match, as we do with all our games. We knew we are the better team, and we proved it to them that we are indeed the better team.
Q: After seeing how teams have been playing so far in the Americas League, what do you think about the current level of competition in the Americas when compared to EMEA or Pacific?
bang: I think DRX has been at the top of the Pacific region for a while. The EMEA has a lot of good teams that can beat any other team on any given day. It's not like only one team can beat them all. People support Fnatic, but I still believe that any team can beat any roster as long as they are having a good day. I would say almost the same for our region.
A lot of these teams are similar in skill. Maybe they haven't proved it yet, but I think that any of these teams are capable of beating anyone.
Q: Cloud9 has recently bested EG in this tournament, what are your expectations for the matchup against them next week?
bang: I think it's going to be a good match; I think Cloud9 are going to take it because they have always given us a rough time while scrimming. They are a solid team. These new pickups have been very impressive.
Q: Icebox is one of the strongest maps for 100 Thieves. What are your thoughts on Bind replacing it soon?
bang: I think Bind is also one of our strongest maps; we have always been good on that map. So I'm happy. Even though Icebox is a good map for us, I think they are just going to replace it with a good map.
Q: Which team are you most excited to match up against here in the VCT Americas League?
bang: I'm excited to play every team, to be honest. I don't have a certain team that I would want more than the others. But if I had to pick, I would go for NRG or LOUD because I wasn't really able to play the OpTic core last year, so I wanted to see how we play against them.
