100 Thieves shooting for the sky by signing two LCS legends.
100 Thieves are arguably the most successful organization in LCS over the last year and a half. They made three straight finals and won the trophy in the 2022 Spring Split. But the losses in the last two LCS Finals, both sweeps, meant the organization was looking for a change. Which started when they parted ways with their General Manager Christopher “PapaSmithy” Smith and long-time top laner Kim “Ssumday” Chan-ho.
During the offseason after Worlds 2022, many rumors surfaced that former teammates Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng and Søren “Bjergsen” Bjerg were looking to reunite and their destination would be 100 Thieves. These rumors were almost confirmed when Doublelift joined the team on their Korean bootcamp and started scrimming with them. Still, fans had to wait for an official confirmation, which was released today. In their announcement video, 100 Thieves recreated the famous finding Doublelift in a trash can scene, but with a twist. The five-man squad of 100 Thieves for the 2023 LCS Spring Split will be:
- Top laner: Milan “Tenacity” Oleksij
- Jungler: Can “Closer” Çelik
- Mid laner: Søren “Bjergsen” Bjerg
Bot laner: Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng - Support: Alan “Busio” Cwalina
Our biggest heist yet. #100T
Introducing your 100 Thieves roster for the 2023 LCS season:@Bjergsen@Doublelift1@closerlol@tenacityna@Busio pic.twitter.com/K4xhNAovrV
— 100 Thieves Esports (@100T_Esports) December 9, 2022
Doublelift and Bjergsen previously played on TSM together, on two different times, where they won multiple LCS trophies. It is also interesting that both players retired from pro play in 2020. Bjergsen made his return last year with Team Liquid. 100 Thieves were also able to re-sign their star jungler Closer and round out this experienced roster with two exciting prospects from their Academy team. Both Tenacity and Busio are two of the most anticipated prospects in the Academy ecosystem. Tenacity has been waiting for a call-up for a long time. He even declined LCS offers at the start of 2022, to have the chance to make his first full-time LCS split debut on 100 Thieves. And Busio is nicknamed “LCS Keria” for his lane dominance and creative champion pool.
With this reported five-man roster, it will also mean that the other 100 Thieves signing of the off-season, William “UNF0RGIVEN” Nieminen will be part of the organization’s NACL team. This can be seen as insurance in 100 Thieves’ part, in case Doublelift struggles in his return to pro play.
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