After beating Japan’s DFM to earn their first win at Worlds 2021, 100 Thieves jungler Can ‘Closer’ Çelik declared the victory revenge for NA fans after DFM had beaten Cloud9 earlier in the tournament.
Cloud9’s tiebreaker loss to DFM in the Worlds 2021 Play Ins was a particularly hard pill for NA fans to swallow. While Cloud9 eventually battled their way to the group stage, LCS fans were hoping they could have got there through the automatic qualification of winning a Play Ins group.
For their efforts, DFM were placed in Group B along with Cloud9’s American compatriots 100 Thieves. The LCS top seed soundly beat the Japanese side in a 33-minute match on October 12, earning their first victory at Worlds 2021.
After the win, Closer proudly declared it as revenge for the NA fandom.
100 Thieves get revenge at Worlds 2021
“I would definitely say it was revenge for the NA fans,” Closer said. “I want every NA team to win at Worlds so yeah, it felt good to win against DFM.”
Appearing at Worlds for the first time since 2018, 100 Thieves had to watch Cloud9 suffer a historic collapse on the final day of the Play Ins group stage.
As the mocking cries of ‘Clown9’ and ‘Classic NA’ spread across social media, 100T were seeking justice for their fallen LCS brethren.
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“We studied Cloud9’s loss to DFM very closely,” Closer continued. “We came up with a gameplan that would avoid the mistakes that Cloud9 made.”
- Read More: Worlds 2021 group stage power rankings
Their draft mirrored C9’s in a number of ways – a strong mage in mid lane and a stun-damage combo in the bot lane. Where C9 took Zoe, Miss Fortune, and Amumu to fill their mid-bot roles, 100 Thieves opted for Ryze, Lucian, and Nami.
In addition to the lane control of Graves and Viego’s sustain, 100 Thieves found themselves a winning combination.
Take a bow, boys. #100WIN pic.twitter.com/nPBxYroe0F
— 100 Thieves VALORANT (@100T_VAL) October 12, 2021
But it was more than just a crucial win for 100 Thieves in what is proving to be a very competitive group. It was a sliver of salvation for every NA fan hoping for a deep Worlds run.
Hope for fans who have had to endure years of memes and mockery, a sentiment only heightened by Cloud9’s loss. But for a moment, even if it is fleeting, those fans can look to their representatives at Worlds and see that the LCS is truly united.
100 Thieves will look to ride their momentum into a tough October 13 matchup with T1 and Faker.
