Spencer “Hiko” Martin, the captain of 100 Thieves’ VALORANT team, is unsure if TSM can be considered a part of NA’s upper echelon at this time after another early exit from VCT Challengers.
“I don’t know if you can call them a top-five team,” Hiko said on his Twitch stream. “I think they still have the potential to be one of the best teams, but you can’t go out in two open qualifiers back-to-back… This is why the TSM fans are sadge right now because TSM was supposed to be the best team in NA.”
TSM were upset by XSET 2-1 in VCT Challengers Open Qualifier One. Despite a dominant 13-3 victory on Icebox, TSM fell to XSET on the final map, Split, 15-13 in overtime. Due to the loss, they didn’t make the closed portion of the qualifier.
In the second open qualifier, they were again upset in a 2-1 thriller by Gen.G. In the final map, Bind, TSM failed to force overtime and lost 13-11.
TSM were the First Strike runners-up in December and the champions of the FaZe Invitational in August.
TSM have come close to qualifying for the closed qualifiers but have now fallen short twice. With their early 2020 success now in the rear-view mirror, it’s fair to wonder whether they can return to their championship-contending ways. Other teams seem to have advanced considerably from the time when TSM were dominant and North American VALORANT is now deeper than ever.
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