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100 Thieves recently dropped Hunter "BabyJ" Schline and Adam "ec1s" Eccles from the roster after losing two matches at the Valorant Champions Tour 2022 Stage 1 Challengers 1.
Not long after the announcement, 100 Thieves' CEO, Matthew "Nadeshot" Haag, posted on Twitter, elborating the reason behind such a sudden decision. 100 Thieves recently lost a match against The Guard at the VCT 2022 Stage 1 Challengers 1 Group Stage, leaving them without a single win so far.
In BabyJ and ec1s' place, they signed Sean "bang" Bezerra and Noah "jcStani" Smith on loan from TSM and Pioneers respectively. BabyJ and ec1s had joined the roster on January 17, 2022, but were asked to leave the organization after playing just two official matches.
The Valorant community and fans were both surprised and shocked. The decision was made soon after the team lost to The Guard by 13-0 points on Ascent.
100 Thieves' Valorant roster goes through a change again as necessary for success in future
The 100 Thieves founder appreciated the talent and skills of both the players, but also mentioned giving opportunities to new ones. Nadeshot explained how it was a necessary step for 100 Thieves' Valorant team to find success in upcoming matches.
He said:
"Obviously, I know it comes as a surprise that we are moving away from BabyJ and ec1s. First and foremost, I would like to say 'thank you' to both of those players. There is never, ever under any circumstances where I want there to be a situation where their involvement with our organization is as short-lived as this one."
Riot Games assigned only two slots to the North American region for the VCT 2022 Stage 1 Masters Iceland. This made the it more difficult for teams to make it to the Masters this year. Nadeshot also mentioned the lack of synergy among players as one of the reasons behind the squad's performance at the VCT 2022 Stage 1 Challengers 1 Group Stage.
He went on to say:
"I would say this was a decision that we felt was necessary for success, or a potential opportunity for us to qualify for the future of 2022 and all the tournaments that are to come, and the format is just grueling. To be honest with you, only two teams go to Iceland and basically, if you don't qualify, your year is done. So it's really a make or break and we just feel like we don't want to wait out the inevitable. We just felt like the way that they meshed just didn't fit well together and so you got to take a big swing."
The 100 Thieves' Valorant roster didn't have a successful 2021, having once been the First Strike winners. Their rosters have gone through a number of shuffles recently. Apart from the new additions, there are only three Valorant players who remain in the team: Spencer "Hiko" Martin, Peter "Asuna" Mazuryk, and Ethan "Ethan" Arnold.
The next scheduled match for 100 Thieves will be played against Luminosity Gaming on February 27, 2022, and will feature the former's new roster. It will be interesting to see how the new players, Band and JcStani, gel with each other and the rest of the squad in such a short period of time.
