In the midst of Week 3, 100T AD Carry Ian Victor “FBI” Huang spoke with Gamezo for an exclusive one-on-one interview about his team’s performance thus far in the 2021 LCS Summer Split and who he thinks is the biggest competitor in the field.
Going into Week 3 of the 2021 LCS Summer Split, 100 Thieves were primed to continue their excellent form seeing as they sat in second place on the overall standings at 16-8. With upcoming matches against the struggling teams of Counter Logic Gaming and FlyQuest, most if not all fans expected the Thieves to trounce them candidly before finally directing their focus to Team Liquid, the final opponent of the week. However, unbeknownst to 100T and everyone else, CLG had other plans in mind.
Aided by the unconventional pick of Vi for jungler Mads “Broxah” Pedersen, who hadn’t played the champion at all beforehand, CLG dominated 100T for a near-perfect game victory inside 30 minutes. Only two towers destroyed by 100T saved them from being dealt total humiliation.
About Week 3
What exactly happened in that first match against CLG?
FBI: I would say that game was a mixture of both us getting outdrafted and playing very poorly, and if you have those things combined, the game is generally not going to end too well for you. Even though we were, in my and the team’s opinion, losing in the draft, we would still have been fine if I didn’t intentionally kill myself on my first death. I would say that and the following dragon [fight], we were indecisive, and once those two plays went bad for us, the game kind of got out of our control and they had an easy to execute comp.
So it just started from your death and the game snowballed from there?
FBI: Yup. I mean I ended the 0/6/0 so it wasn’t the best game but props to CLG. They actually played really well and had a nice game plan coming in.
From there, you guys recovered to defeat FlyQuest. What was the preparation like for that match even though you had less than a day to reset your head?
FBI: We generally have most of our draft and prep done throughout the week so we weren’t really too focused on how to draft against certain teams. We’d rather just play our own champs and that’s what we did today and it worked out alright for us.
And in that game, you had your partner Huhi choose Ziggs as the support. We had not seen Ziggs in that position for a long time so I’d like to ask about the idea behind that selection.
FBI: First of all, Huhi is a former mid-laner so he’s really good at these mid champs. Ziggs recently got buffed and we decided to try it against Kog’Maw-Lulu in scrims [and] it went pretty well for us. Ziggs as a champion does really well into Kog’Maw. He has really long-range and burst and, yeah, it worked out pretty well for us today.
So it was a sort of niche pick against Kog’Maw and Lulu? Is that what you’re saying?
FBI: Yeah, that’s what I’m saying, but don’t be surprised if we pull it out against other bot lanes.
Alright, we’ll keep our eyes open for that. I’d like to give you a little bit of a trivia question: Do you know the last time Ziggs was selected as supprt in the LCS?
FBI: I think it was Huhi as well when we played against CLG last year.
Well, you’re correct. It was indeed Huhi last year in spring of 2020 in Week 9 (note: it was indeed against CLG). In that game, you had Varus as your champion. With that said, I’d like to our perspective and bring it to a holistic view. What do you think of your team’s performance so far compared to the last split?
FBI: I would say that our performance at the moment compared to spring is a lot more decisive and on the same page. I think now that Abbedagge has come in–he’s a really strong player–he opened avenues for our team to play through all three lanes. Having that kind of freedom in both draft and in-game is really huge and it’s been really helpful for us. I think we’re a lot more cohesive and decisive and I think it’s showing so far.
Team’s Shift in Performance During Summer
Has those facets improved as a result of Bok “Reapered” Han-gyu’s inclusion to the team as well?
FBI: For sure. I have a lot of respect for Reapered as a coach. I think he has helped us improve a lot, especially I would say on our top side. It has really turned around from the last split. I think communication and just the way we play the game has improved a lot and I have to give a lot of credit to Reapered for that.
As it stands right now, your team is currently in the upper half of the overall LCS standings. It’s a notable improvement from this same point last year where you, as a member of Golden Guardians, were stuck in the complete middle of the table. In retrospect, how is this team different compared to the GG teams of last year in terms of the overall vibe, performance, compatibility, all of that stuff?
FBI: I would say that, compared to GG, 100T is a lot more professional. I feel like, just in terms of an organizational perspective, 100T badly wants to win. Like everyone involved, the staff, the org, and the players, [they all want to win]. I’m not saying that on GG we weren’t trying to win, but I didn’t feel that same kind of hunger and drive that I do in this org. I would say those are the main differences and I’m just grateful to be a part of 100T. This split is our split to win.
Who to Look Out For In the LCS
Regarding the future of the split, you’re close to finishing the first round-robin. Who do you think is the team to beat so far in this split (you can also include your team as the answer)?
FBI: I think this split has been interesting because both of the top teams from the last split had pretty surprising roster swaps. Alphari and Zven were at the top of their positions and it was pretty surprising but I don’t really know what’s going on internally in those teams. With them taking a little bit of a hit, I’d still say it’s pretty close between the top teams. Ourselves, TSM, TL, and C9 all have a good shot at winning [the LCS], but I really do think that we’re going to improve a lot in this season and we’re going to take it.
As a result of 100T’s ascension to the upper half of the table, and actually competing for the LCS title, you’re starting to feel more pressure from the fans regarding that possibility of success. How do you digest that sort of pressure and does it affect your performance to an extent?
FBI: I wouldn’t really say so. There’s definitely a lot of pressure involved, but when I get into the game, those things go away. At that point, I’m just focusing on the game and how to win. Outside of it, I do think about it sometimes like how we’re perceived as a top team and the kind of pressure that brings. But at the end of the day, you just play the game and if you’re a better team, you’ll win.
