100 Thieves came into 2022 with a ton of potential and a strategy rarely used by any professional League of Legends rosters. Last offseason, almost every LCS organization made at least one change to their starting lineup ahead of the Spring Split. But 100T was the outlier. After a successful end to 2021 that saw 100 Thieves come up just short of the Worlds knockout stage, the org decided to keep the roster in its entirety for the upcoming calendar year of play.
Flash forward to the present day and the roster did not meet its lofty goals. Back-to-back second-place finishes domestically and a disappointing group stage exit at Worlds 2022 highlighted a step back for 100 Thieves this year. With shortcomings like those, changes are likely to be made to the roster ahead of the 2023 campaign.
Departures
After the Worlds group stage wrapped up in New York City, signifying the end of 100 Thieves’ season, speculation began to run rampant on who would leave the roster. Some fans clamored for Ssumday’s replacement with the highly-touted 100 Thieves Academy top-lane prospect Milan “Tenacity” Oleksij waiting in the wings. Others believed the bot lane was the problem spot for 100T, looking to see a switch up from the solid duo of FBI and Huhi.
What seems to be the likely reality is neither of those options comes to fruition. Independent journalist Brieuc Seeger reported that 100 Thieves are allowing Closer and Abbedagge to explore options for the upcoming season. This doesn’t guarantee that either player is out of a spot on 100T’s starting roster, however.
This came as a bit of a surprise, though, since Closer has consistently been the best performer on the roster throughout their two-year run, even claiming a finals MVP for the 2021 LCS Summer Split playoffs. Abeedagge also had his bright moments, despite a rough Worlds performance.
This does, however, shine some light on what the organization’s mindset is when it comes to constructing its next roster. Unlike Team Liquid and co-ceo Steve Arhancet, 100 Thieves hasn’t provided a ton of insight on its approach to this offseason. This means every rumor and report should be taken with an extra grain of salt until free agency officially begins.
The only confirmed departure from 100 Thieves quickly after the team exited Worlds came behind the scenes. One of the legends of professional League of Legends, Chris “PapaSmithy” Smith, had been the general manager for 100T since 2019. PapaSmithy played a huge role in creating the roster that brought 100 Thieves its first LCS title in 2021. PapaSmithy’s contract ended this year and he decided to step away from 100 Thieves. His next landing spot is as president and chief gaming officer at FlyQuest.
100 Thieves next LCS “super team?”
So far this offseason, there hasn’t been much news about 100 Thieves outside of Closer, Abbedagge, and PapaSmithy. Then, Travis Gafford dropped what so far has been the biggest rumor on fans during Worlds finals weekend in San Francisco. Gafford explained in a video that 100 Thieves may be the next LCS “super team,” bringing in Spica in the jungle, new free agent Bjergsen in mid, and pulling Doublelift out of retirement to start at ADC. Basically, 100T is rumored to be bringing the core of the 2020 TSM roster back together for another run at international hardware.
This would certainly be the move of the offseason, bringing in the consensus two best LCS players of all time for one more run at Worlds. It does, however, raise a ton of questions for the rest of the roster. If this is true, that would also mean FBI is out of 100T along with Closer and Abbedagge, who may already have one foot out the door with the org letting them explore options. What does the rest of this roster look like around the core three of Spica, Bjergsen, and Doublelift? Do Ssumday and Huhi remain? A lot is still uncertain and it is important to note that this potential “super team” is just a rumor, for now.
Coaching changes
A couple of days ago, 100 Thieves announced that it’d also make changes behind the scenes for the upcoming season. Head coach Bok “Reapered” Han-gyu was let go by 100T ahead of 2023. Reapered was brought on in 2021 and played a huge role in the success of 100 Thieves and the org claiming its first domestic championship in the Summer Split.
Reapered’s replacement looks to already be set and 100 Thieves will reportedly look to Europe for its new head coach. Blix_gg reporter Alejandro Gomis reported that former MAD Lions head coach Christophe “Kaas” van Oudheusden will make the move to the LCS with 100 Thieves for the 2023 season. Kaas has been with MAD since 2020 and played a critical role in the Spanish org winning back-to-back LEC titles in 2021.
What’s going on with Tenacity?
As previously mentioned, a ton of 100 Thieves and LCS fans are eager to see Tenacity, one of the brightest LCS Academy players, get the call back up to the big stage. At first, it sounded like 100 Thieves may favor keeping Ssumday, the org’s longest-tenured player. In Gafford’s video explaining the aforementioned “super team,” he said that Ssumday would be paired up with the likes of Spica, Bjergsen, and Doublelift for 2023.
That roster is currently only a rumor but alludes to the idea that Tenacity would once again be blocked from starting for 100T in the LCS. This notion became even more likely when earlier this week it was reported that Tenacity would join Evil Geniuses to start in the top lane for the 2023 season. That’d be a big move that would solidify not only Ssumday’s return to 100T but EG’s stance on growing young North American talent.
What’s important to note is that Tenacity is still under contract with 100 Thieves until 2024. Now, an update from TGHEsports journalist Sander Hove claims that 100T is blocking the transfer of Tenacity to Evil Geniuses. This all stems from the fact Tenacity’s move is only a verbal agreement at this time.
This makes 100 Thieves’ top-lane situation really murky. By all accounts, most rumors have Ssumday staying with 100T for 2023. But it is now a reported fact that 100 Thieves also wants to retain Tenacity. Tenacity wants a starting spot at the LCS level, a spot that 100T may not be able to offer. There is still little information regarding 100T’s top-lane debacle and more will become available as free agency inches closer and closer.
Support
Last but certainly not least is the support situation for 100 Thieves. Early on, it wasn’t clear if either FBI or Huhi would stay on the roster for 2023. Now, with Gafford’s insider rumor about a 100T “super team,” the picture in the bot lane may look a bit clearer. Gafford explains in his video that the ideal pairing around Spica, Bjergsen, and Doublelift would be Ssumday in the top lane and 100 Thieves Academy support Alan “Busio” Cwalina at support.
While Ssumday’s status in the top lane is still very much up in the air, Busio’s promotion seems much more likely. In the same report confirming Kaas as the next 100T head coach, Gomis also reported Busio’s promotion to starting support for 100 Thieves at the LCS level. This would subsequently mean that Huhi is out of the starting lineup, a move that has yet to be reported. Promoting Busio alongside a veteran LCS ADC makes sense. Doublelift has a history of pairing up with younger supports like Biofrost and Treatz in their LCS debuts with TSM.
New European import to AD carry
The latest update as of Nov. 14 to the 100 Thieves roster mania adds much more chaos when it comes to figuring out the organization’s starting lineup for 2023. Journalist Brieuc Seeger has reported that former MAD Lions AD carry William “UNF0RGIVEN” Nieminen is set to join 100 Thieves for the upcoming calendar year. UNF0RGIVEN recently performed well in MAD’s run in the Worlds play-in stage despite the team’s shortcomings.
This addition becomes much more perplexing when factoring in the Gafford 100T “super team” rumor. Add on the fact that it is not yet known whether UNF0RGIVEN will play on 100T or 100T Academy and fans have more questions than answers. Gafford’s idea of the 100 Thieves roster is still just a theory, but if 100T isn’t willing to confirm where UNF0RGIVEN’s spot is within the org, maybe there is more truth to it. Regardless, for now, all that’s known is UNF0RGIVEN is reportedly coming to NA to play for one of the 100 Thieves rosters.
Right now, there isn’t a ton confirmed for the 100 Thieves LCS roster ahead of the 2023 season. But rumor-wise, this org could not be more in the spotlight ahead of the start of free agency. Once Nov. 21 rolls around, a lot more clarity will be provided on the future of 100 Thieves’ professional League of Legends squad.
