100 Thieves vs Cloud9

A Best of 5 between 100 Thieves and Cloud9 simply has to deliver. There's just no other way to put it. These are some of the most capable and experienced players that North America has to offer, and anything other than a five-game brawl would invariably be deemed as a letdown.

Will it go the distance, though? That still remains to be seen. The potential is certainly there, but it'll all hinge around each team's preparation and, as always: execution. That is where Cloud9 and 100 Thieves often falter the most. They don't always execute to their win conditions and, frankly, sometimes they draft without any apparent game plan in mind. It's a Jekyll and Hyde kind of thing, and you can never be too certain which of the two will come out and play.

Betting on Cloud9, in particular, has been an absolute rollercoaster. The fact that they've reached the losers' finals obviously means they've done many things right, but the fashion in which they've gotten to this point definitely left a lot to be desired -- their inherent flaws were often on full display. Will 100 Thieves be able to exploit them? Well, that depends on a myriad of factors, none of which can be predicted at this point in time. They definitely have the right tools for the job, but they don't always harness and utilize them appropriately.

The fact of the matter is that Cloud9 are heavily flawed and are as volatile and inconsistent as possible. They've "brute forced" their way to this point through sheer mechanical prowess and individual talent — not through any sort of team play. They're a spectacular team, no doubt, but they're rarely on the same page and often look like a bunch of out-of-sync solo queue randoms, rather than a group of professionals who've been playing the game together for months if not years.

100 Thieves, in that sense, have looked a lot better. They're more flexible, creative, and are nowhere near as unstable performance-wise. Still, their historical track record isn't all that impressive. Cloud9, for all their flaws, had always found a way to deliver and win. It often wasn't pretty, but they got the job done and that, in short, is the only thing that really matters. Conversely, 100 Thieves always faltered and failed in one way or another once their backs were against the wall. This trend seems to be reaching its end seeing how they've once again secured a spot at Worlds (so they obviously must be doing *something* right) but we're still a bit hesitant to give them our full benefit of the doubt.

Be that as it may, they haven't been nearly as exploitable as the boys in black and blue and they can also win through basically all three lanes, so we're going to side with them on this one and hope for the best. They might not be the favorites odds-wise, but they definitely have a shot at taking Cloud9 down and reaching the 2021 LCS Summer Split finals.