100 Thieves swipe away NRG's back-to-back dreams with 2-0 victory

In the latest do-or-die elimination game, 100 Thieves 100 Thieves North America Rank #1 Cryocells Matthew Panganiban Asuna Peter Mazuryk vora Jordan Pulwer Timotino Timothée Lavigne Dupont bang Sean Bezerra snatched a win against the reigning champs NRG NRG North America Rank #2 keiko Georgio Sanassy brawk Brock Somerhalder mada Adam Pampuch skuba Logan Jenkins Ethan Ethan Arnold . The Champions Paris winners became the first Americas team knocked out of Champions Shanghai.

The series began on 100 Thieves' map pick of Sunset. Both teams relied on the core of Omen, Fade, and Neon. However, 100 Thieves settled for a double-Duelist setup around Asuna 's Phoenix, while NRG locked in Ethan 's patented KAY/O. The teams favored different Sentinels as well. keiko 's Chamber has been dominant across the tournament, and Cryocells 's Cypher has helped anchor sites across various maps.

NRG started off hot, claiming the first three rounds of the match after winning the pistol. But a thrifty win behind Sheriffs in round four brought life back to the Thieves. The EWC champs held a fast B-site take by NRG and looked to run away with the half. A KAY/O ultimate by Ethan spearheaded a B-site split through mid to take a 4-2 lead.

100 Thieves secure a thrifty to get back into the game

That round was one of two rounds NRG secured on the attack side. B-site Cypher utility, Timotino 's multikills, and elite fragging from the IGL vora cemented a 7-5 half for 100 Thieves.

The second half started similarly to the first. NRG converted the pistol round, bonus round, and eco round to quickly pull ahead 8-7. Then, 100 Thieves won four of the next five rounds to usurp the lead 11-9. 100T reached match point in round 22, but a textbook 2v1 and B-site stuff by NRG staved off defeat. Sunset headed to a rare Shanghai overtime. In OT, two near-flawless rounds by 100T ended overtime just as fast as it started. The final score was 14-12, and IGL vora and keiko's Chamber led the server, both posting a 1.28 rating.

Next up: NRG's map pick of Haven. If Sunset was the definition of a close game, Haven was a blowout.

Both squads played similar Phoenix and Neon double-Duelist compositions, with the only difference being keiko 's Chamber and Cryocells 's Cypher. NRG came out swinging, quickly jumping out to a 2-0 cushion behind keiko's five kills in two rounds. After that, NRG only mustered two rounds. 100T's defense proved impenetrable. bang , Asuna , and Timotino combined for 33 kills, helping 100T jump out in front 8-4 at the end of the half.

100 Thieves extend their blowout with a second half pistol win

100 Thieves put on a clinic in the second half. Timotino and Asuna marched their way into whatever site they wanted. A pistol round win paved the way for four straight rounds, as 100T crushed NRG's dream of becoming the first-ever back-to-back Champions winners. Haven finished with a scoreline of 13-4.

Asuna solidified his place as one of the best Phoenix players in the world, topping the server with a 1.35 rating.

100 Thieves continue their lower bracket run and book a spot in the Mercedes-Benz Arena. The North American squad awaits the winner of G2 Esports G2 Esports North America Rank #3 jawgemo Alexander Mor BABYBAY Andrej Francisty trent Trent Cairns valyn Jacob Batio leaf Nathan Orf and T1 T1 Korea Rank #2 stax Kim Gu-taek (김구택) Meteor Kim Tae-oh (김태오) BuZz Yu Byeong-cheol (유병철) DH Kang Dong-ho (강동호) iZu Ham Woo-ju (함우주) Munchkin Byeon Sang-beom (변상범) .

NRG's bonkar on whether losing to 100T again came down to an off day or counter-stratting: "They are a very good team and they played better than us. I don't remember what happened last time we played them, but today they were just the better team in the server, simple. I think we should've won the first map."

100T's vora on IGLing at Mercedes-Benz Arena: "I've got a little bit of experience in big arenas, maybe not as big as Mercedes-Benz, but it's not anything I'm going to be thinking about. I kind of block out the noise when I play."

After a four day break, Champions Shanghai will resume with the following matches: