100 Thieves Finds a Crucial Win Over TSM for Their Playoff Push in the LCS Spring Split

With this win, the Thieves bring their overall record to 8-8.

Both 100 Thieves and TSM came into the LCS Spring Split's second super week tied for fifth place with a 7-8 record, competing for one of the last two playoff spots. Things got especially heated once CLG won their game against Golden Guardians, which put them ahead of both these teams in the standings. It was an almost must-win for TSM, as they lost the first game in the round-robin to 100 Thieves and they needed to at least tie the head-to-head.

100 Thieves just had a 2-0 week before this, seemingly coming out of their mid-split slump and losing seven out of eight consecutive games. TSM on the other hand has been pretty inconsistent the whole split, but they looked a lot better since they brought in the veteran bot laner WildTurtle back into the starting roster. This throwback bot lane matchup between two legendary LCS ADCs was looking like the focal point of both teams coming into the game. It was even apparent in the draft phase with both teams drafting hyper carries for their bot laners, Jinx for Doublelift and Xayah for Turtle. But TSM also got their hands on Aurelion Sol, while 100 Thieves opted for a more supportive mid laner in Annie.

The early game also turned into a little bit of a fiesta around the bot lane. 100 Thieves decided to invade the enemy jungle by bringing their Sion down. Despite not getting the advantage they were looking for from the first invade, the Thieves kept attacking their opponent’s bot lane but TSM perfectly answered most of their moves. Most importantly three of these early kills went on to the Maple’s Aurelion Sol, which accelerated the threat of the Dragon’s scaling.

Wintrading? pic.twitter.com/mz86cZJTA0

— TSM Report (@tsmreport) March 15, 2023

Once the early game ended, the action was mainly limited to the drake fights. 100 Thieves had some trouble contesting TSM because of their area control with Aurelion Sol and Rakan, but them managing the steal the second drake meant they could give up one or two drakes and wait for more items on Doublelift’s Jinx.

The age-old strategy once again proved to be viable as the moment Jinx hit two items, 100 Thieves were able to fight back. They found two good picks in the enemy jungle thanks to the chase potential of their composition, securing themselves the Baron buff. Gold lead now on the Thives’ side, they became a lot more aggressive in taking fights and contesting objectives.

We've got a heist on our hands 👀 #LCS pic.twitter.com/6QGcShBdo6

— LCS (@LCSOfficial) March 15, 2023

As the clock kept ticking, the difference between the tankiness of Sion and K’Sante also started to show itself. Tenacity’s Sion was able to zone the enemy by itself while Solo was getting shredded by the enemy carry with an 0/6 KDA. TSM found a desperate engage on Closer at one point, who they thought they caught alone, but 100 Thieves turned the fight around in a flash, decimating TSM and taking the Soul plus their third Baron of the game.

ONE FIGHT AT A TIME! pic.twitter.com/zUMjXotRch

— 100 Thieves Esports (@100T_Esports) March 15, 2023

TSM almost managed to hold on thanks to heroics by the Aurelion Sol, but in the end, it was too hard for them to win 5v5s as they could not get to the enemy ADC. It took 100 Thieves a while but they were able to find a good fight in the mid lane and finish the game after killing Maple.

With this win, 100 Thieves brought the head-to-head against TSM to 2-0 while also taking a game lead over them in the standings. This was a great first step toward securing a playoff spot as TSM was probably their closest competition. Seeing where the other teams stand now, 100 Thieves has a good chance of qualifying for the postseason if they can manage to get at least one more win in their next two. Considering they are playing against Immortals on Day 3, they are in good shape.

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