Golden Guardians vs 100 Thieves

For our first match of the way we have a rather peculiar clash between 100 Thieves and the Golden Guardians. Now, in all fairness, this is far from a premier match-up but it’s not an egregiously bad one either. The one reason why anyone should tune in is because of 100 Thieves. There’s pretty much no other way to put it. Still, it’s a big enough reason, especially if you’re interested in the LCS playoff picture.

There’s a lot on the line, and 100 Thieves will need to be spotless in execution if they want to stand a chance of leaving a mark. So far, they haven’t looked all that great, and their swap to Ryoma didn’t bare any fruit. Heck, we’re putting it mildly here. It changed nothing whatsoever, which was to be expected, in all fairness. He’s a good player overall but nowhere near as good to compete on even footing with the vast majority of his mid lane peers. Furthermore, 100 Thieves as a team regressed beyond belief and it doesn’t seem like they’ll get on the same page and correct course any time soon. There’s only a handful of games left to be played before the playoffs come around, and while 100 Thieves are all but guaranteed to ultimately finish in the Top 6, no one’s expecting much from them given just how badly they’ve looked recently. They’re on a three-game losing streak and their confidence is in shambles — and rightfully so.

Does this mean they’re incapable of trading blows with the best teams in the LCS? Not quite, but they're far too volatile to warrant our benefit of the doubt. Something just isn’t right over at the 100 Thieves camp, and there’s not a lot of time for them to fix it. There are just four games left to be played (counting this one), which is a meagre amount no matter how you slice it. 100 Thieves need to step up and they need to do it fast. Their 8W-6L record is still pretty darn good, but it is by no means set in stone and, if recent trends are indication, it’s bound to deteriorate even further. They just haven’t been playing like a top-tier team, which means this one game — against what can only be deemed as the least capable team in North America — is an absolute must-win. This one fact cannot be overstated enough. It’s not exactly a do-or-die kind of moment, but it’s not far off either.

Getting a “W” here tonight would give them a small (albeit invaluable) amount of confidence which they could, in theory, leverage and potentially mount a comeback. “Could” being the operative word here.

The Golden Guardians, on the other hand, are pretty much out of the playoff picture, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have anything to fight for. On the contrary. Not only will their Spring Split record transfer over to Summer, but they can still learn so much from each game they play. They are, of course, a bottom-tier dweller, but they’re a feisty one, and that should not be underestimated. They already upset 100 Thieves a couple of weeks back which, at the very least, means they’ve got the tools for the job. If 100 Thieves double down on their strengths and provide their bottom lane duo with enough agency to hard-carry, they should be good. Still, the odds of them losing are far too alluring, so we'll go with the underdog on this one. It's somewhat ill-advised, but if it could happen once -- back when 100 Thieves had a lot more momentum than they do now -- then it can surely happen again.