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The Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) 2022 North America LCQ has witnessed some immense competition among the top squads from the region.
100 Thieves took down Cloud 9 in the VCT 2022 NA LCQ Lower-Bracket Semi-Final match. The squad gained a dominating win with a scoreline of 2-0. This eliminated Cloud 9 from the tournament.
100 Thieves got their VCT 2022 season off to a slow start, leading to multiple roster shuffles. In April 2022, Brenden "stellar" McGrath, one of the new Valorant players, joined as the team's In-Game Leader (IGL). He has guided the squad and led them well during the tournaments.
100 Thieves Stellar on team's performance against Cloud 9, preparation, and more at VCT 2022 NA LCQ
In an exclusive conversation with Sportskeeda Esports' Pratiti Dhang, 100 Thieves' Stellar, after the match against Cloud 9, talked about the team's performance and preparation for the VCT NA 2022 LCQ as well as Riot's franchising structure.
Q: Congratulations on the win! What are your thoughts on today's performance against Cloud 9?
100T Stellar: I think our performance was probably the best one we've had so far in the tournament. I think we're getting better every match, and we've been learning a lot as we keep going.
Q: Asuna was seen playing Neon in Fracture in the last match against Sentinels. However, for today’s match against Cloud 9, he went back with Raze. What led to the change in agent composition for the same map?
100T Stellar: It was mainly [down to] knowing Cloud 9’s comp. We figured Raze would be a better fit against them, and that was pretty much it. And then we kind of discussed it; we weighed our options and decided to go with it in the end.
Q: Tell us about the team’s preparation for the VCT 2022 NA LCQ so far.
100T Stellar: So pretty much from our last event, we had about a month. We've been at boot camp for like three weeks now. We've been having just super solid practice, and that's been our main preparation. We've been focusing on more individual things and that is kind of like our main driving point.
Q: Did you guys face any difficulties during your practice sessions while preparing for the VCT 2022 NA LCQ?
100T Stellar: I think the only difficult thing is that it's hard to get split scrims nowadays, but you won't really see a lot of people play it, and then you can really scrim against any of the other VCT NA LCQ teams, which are like, usually our main scrims. But for the most part, it's been pretty good.
Q: 100 Thieves didn’t have a good run since the beginning of the VCT 2022 season. You joined the roster in April 2022. As an IGL, what were the key things that you focused on after joining the roster and helping it develop?
100T Stellar: I think we're just mainly focused on the fundamentals. I still have Sean Gares and Mike. They helped me out a lot outside of the game, but obviously, during match time, they can't really help. So they just help me prepare as much as they can beforehand and then I just take the wheel from there. I think it's pretty healthy at the moment.
Q: Riot Games has already revealed its plans to establish a franchise structure to replace the existing VCT format. Do you think the franchise league structure will be beneficial to Valorant's esports ecosystem?
100T Stellar: I think as soon as Riot releases their plans for not only franchise leagues but whatever, I guess the regional league or Tier 2 league, everybody will be in a better place. Mentally, I think it'll stabilize a little bit more, but I think it's in a pretty good spot at the moment.
Q: You guys face FaZe Clan again next. What are your expectations from the next matchup?
100T Stellar: I think we're just going to focus on what we know best. I think we'll fix some of the mistakes from our last series (against FaZe), and hopefully, we'll just have a good match. I think we'll take the momentum from this one as well, and it should be a good one.
Q: How confident is the team in winning LCQ and making it to Valorant Champions?
100T Stellar: We're pretty confident, especially after this one. I think everyone is in a good head space. I think we're all mechanically skilled. I think we're one of the better teams that came into the VCT NA LCQ. I think we are probably one of the most prepared teams as well. On top of that, I think everyone knows it. So we just got to put it into the matches and we'll be good.
