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The VCT Americas League featured an intense game on its first day of Week 3 when 100 Thieves took on Cloud9 at a live stage in LA. The former was unfortunately defeated by Cloud9, as they lost both their maps in a best-of-three series. However, 100 Thieves still have a chance to put themselves back in the game before Super Week.
Cloud9 has been victorious in two out of the three games they have played in the VCT Americas League so far. That being said, fans are cheering for their favorite roster as they wish to see them in the upcoming Tokyo Masters and Champions.
Mikes from 100 Thieves shares his thoughts on new Agent Gekko and their game against Cloud9 at VCT Americas League
Michael "Mikes" Hockom is an American professional Valorant personality who is currently coaching the 100 Thieves Valorant roster. He previously served many popular teams in the professional Valorant scene, like G2 Esports and Team Envy.
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In an interview with Kushal Bhattacharyya of Sportskeeda, Mikes was asked to open up about the current situation with Gekko picks and their game against Cloud9 at the VCT Americas League.
Q: How much do you think 100 Thieves have improved since the LOCK//In event coming into the VCT Americas League?
Mikes: I think we have improved in different areas fundamentally. I think one of our biggest issues was that we did not put ourselves high enough in LOCK//IN. We are testing a few different Agents now and counter-testing all the compositions we want to run because it doesn't seem like the meta is going to change that much throughout the split.
I think we also have a more in-depth playbook than before. These are two important things we have learned from LOCK//IN and built on.
Q: What were your expectations for today before playing the game against Cloud9?
Mikes: We thought that they'd either go for Split or they would try something weird, but they obviously picked Lotus. That's about the best off-center pick they can get because they banned Icebox and we banned Pearl, which works out because it's one of their better maps, and Icebox is one of our better maps.
For the most part, they ran a standard comp on Lotus. You don't see Neon as much right now because people bring Raze or Jett. We got to a really slow start. I think from a vito standpoint, we thought we had a pretty good chance.
Q: What do you think 100 Thieves fell short of today against Cloud9 at VCT Americas League?
Mikes: For one thing, we didn’t do what we usually do. There was a lot of hesitation, we did not necessarily do things in the order that we normally do them. I think those things are really hard to compensate for later in a game. At that point, really, it's not an adjustment or a strat thing. It's just that each step takes too long, and you miss timings and rotations.
I think one of our biggest issues with Lotus was not playing as we normally would. And I think that carried over into Ascent's attacking half.
Q: What are your thoughts on Cloud9’s performance so far in VCT Americas League, considering the team has gone through roster changes after the event in Brazil?
Mikes: I think people were pretty harsh when they first made roster moves. No one really follows the Tier 2 or 3 scene that closely. I trust the maps where mCe is scouting a lot. He has done a good job with the Guard, and I've always considered him a really good coach. I always thought he could be dangerous if he got the time to set things like he wanted to with that team.
I think people were pretty harsh, and they can be pretty good depending on how much time they have. Obviously, there isn't a lot of time when you are swapping around IGLs and roles, so it's pretty hard to get ready after that in three weeks.
Q: What are your opinions on Gekko so far in the VCT Americas League? Do you think the outcome today would have been any different with him in the Agent composition?
Mikes: I do think he is a good pick on Lotus, depending on how you like to play that map. We run him on Haven. I think some teams are going a little too hard on him because I think there are certain maps where it's really hard to get value out of him.
Like on Split defense, it's exceptionally hard to get value out of Gekko. I don't think it would have impacted the series today at all. I think regardless of the comp we played, we had issues. I don't think it would have impacted either side, really.
Q: 100 Thieves will be facing Kru next week. What are your expectations from that matchup in VCT Americas League?
Mikes: I think people have already segmented rankings when they are trying to figure out who's the best and worst in the league. I think it's way too early to even determine that. As time goes on, we get more and more disparity in what people think about the rankings.
We don't really underestimate any opponent because I think they had a pretty deep series with MIBR where they could have won maps. We are just going to treat them like any other team. I don't over-respect them, but I don't underestimate them either.
