100 Thieves won the Red Bull Home Ground tournament in one of the most dominant performances in a VALORANT tournament to date.
The North American side defeated their regional counterparts 3-0 in the Grand Final after going undefeated in the group stages. The champions won on Bind, Fracture, and Icebox in the final.
Brenden “stellar” McGrath and his men not only take home the trophy, but also a hefty $50,000 payday in prize money.
Both teams came out swinging in the first two maps of the best-of-five final, swapping crucial rounds with one another. 100T surged ahead to regain a 2-0 lead thanks to bang on Bind and Cryocells on Fracture.
The momentum gained by 100 Thieves from their Red Bull Home Ground championship is something they can carry into the new franchised VALORANT Champions Tour format.
Once OpTic’s squad disbanded, Cloud9 swooped in and signed yeah, the most sought-after free agent in North America at the time. The so-called “superteam” C9 was favored to win the Red Bull Home Ground event as well; however, a recently created team called 100 Thieves put them in their place and won the competition.
C9, facing elimination from the finals in straight games, moved on to Icebox, the most lopsided map of the series. As 100T easily defeated C9’s defenses, C9 seemed baffled and helpless in the face of the onslaught.
They went into halftime leading 9-3 and ended up with defensive momentum. Using Cryocell’s Chamber as a defensive strategy was enough to seal the deal. 100T won the winning statement with a score of 13-3, making their record 3-0.
“It’s hard to say because we didn’t get to play like Fnatic, Team Liquid with their full roster, that is, and NAVI. I think those are the guys that we really want to play again, especially Fnatic after Valorant Champions, and I have a lot of respect for the NAVI guys. So I think the NA vs. NA thing is probably just going to be some Reddit narrative for a while.” said 100 Thieves head coach Michael ‘Mikes’ Hockom in a post-match interview.
The best North American, EMEA, and Pacific league teams will compete at the LOCK//IN tournament in February to start off the VCT season in Brazil.
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