100 Thieves vs DetonatioN Gaming

This is where things get a bit more interesting. Well, depending on whom you ask. Watching the North American champions is always a fun time, even though they might not be well-equipped to tackle the many staggeringly capable titans from the LPL and LCK. They're not expected to accomplish much in the grand scheme of things but they could, by all means, entertain us over the next few days. Heck, if they step up and play their best League of Legends yet, they might even make their fans proud, although that is, in all fairness, a bit of a stretch.

You can never be too certain with North American representatives. They don't always adhere to logic and reason, and the same goes for their play, too. Is it the pressure that comes with playing on the biggest of stages? Or simply the lack of talent and experience that ends up hindering their chances? It's still impossible to tell with certainty, despite the fact that we've been watching NA fumble and fail for so many years in a row.

100 Thieves' first showing against EDward Gaming was by no means impressive, but that was to be expected — no one in their right mind thought they'd stand a chance against the LPL champions. So we'll let that first game slide as that's the only logical option at this point in time. If they can reset mentally and enter this game on a "clean slate," they should, by all means, stand a chance at beating the LJL champions who, coincidentally, received an absolute beating from T1. Heck, at one point in became hard to watch — they were getting smacked around the Rift and had nothing to counter with, nothing to hope for, and nothing to do so as to stand even the slightest chance of getting the win (or even making it remotely close). That loss definitely hurt their stock, although saying such a thing really isn't fair given whom they were up against. Then again, now we know just how big of a gap there is between them and competitive LoL royalty. Not that anyone had any doubt, but it's nice to get a very concrete reminder.

In any case, we'll side with 100 Thieves on this one, but by no means are we doing so with confidence. They're better, one simply has to assume, but they've yet to deliver and could, by all means, drop the ball. It really wouldn't be the first time, nor would anyone be overly surprised should things pan out that way. Still, they're led by the venerable Reapered, they're flexible in terms of draft, and are fairly creative, too. These are all invaluable virtues even though they're not especially fleshed out and honed. If they draft for comfort and execute even remotely well — not to mention give enough agency to Abbedagge and FBI, along with an engage pick for Huhi — they should definitely be able to get their first win on the board.

With all of that said, it's not going to come easy, and if you're looking for a "safe bet" you'd be wise to look elsewhere as there are no guarantees with this one.