It looks like the reigning LCS Summer Split Champions were not happy with their loss to EG in the Spring Finals. Despite being handily defeated in their first meeting since Evil Geniuses 3-0’d them to win the LCS Spring Playoffs, 100 Thieves came back with a vengeance this week.

Evil Geniuses, who had previously 3-0’d almost every team in their run for the Spring title, returned to the LCS Summer Split seemingly undefeatable. Although they lost to CLG in week two, EG was heavily in the lead that game. Their eagerness to close out the match after smashing through nearly all of CLG’s defenses ended up being their downfall.

While CLG came out with a win, it was EG’s game to lose at that point. Attempting to force an ending, EG overstepped their winning condition at that moment. The Elder Buff expired, and CLG was narrowly able to rally against an overstaying EG.

Despite that early hiccup, the reigning Spring champions flawlessly rebounded from their loss, finishing out the first round robin of the Summer Split with an 8-1 record. Fresh off of a revenge victory over CLG to improve their record to 9-1, EG found themselves in the face of their next greatest roadblock: 100 Thieves.

Read more about the LCS Summer Split.

Spring Finals Revenge

Focused on earning their 10th win of the Summer and becoming the first team to reach double digits this LCS Summer Split, EG were the favorites to take down 100 Thieves. After all, the last time 100T won against EG was four matchups ago, before the Spring Playoffs. Since then, EG had matured dramatically, mostly through their time at MSI (Midseason Invitational): a privilege earned by dismantling 100T in the Spring Finals.

With a wealth of international experience from MSI under their belt, and a third place finish behind names like T1 and RNG, EG’s young roster members had developed tremendously, allowing them to flourish with an 8-1 return to the LCS.

Unlike Evil Geniuses, 100T have struggled on their way to this matchup. Despite a 6-3 winning record, 100T had looked shaky up until week three. Prior to that, Abbedagge had struggled tremendously in lane, leaving 100T unable to make effective plays around the map. Although their skill elsewhere allowed them to find wins against worse teams, Abbedagge’s slump led to their horrendous defeat at the hands of EG the first time around.

“Taking Down Giants”

Rebounding from his slump, Abbedagge has become a force to be reckoned with at the LCS Summer Split. Earning himself Player of the Game three times, the second highest in the league behind FlyQuest’s mid laner toucouille, Abbedagge has radically improved 100T’s ability to play around the map.

Coming into their matchup, EG’s mid laner jojopyun had high praises for Abbedagge:

“People talk about Abbedagge’s laning being bad or something, but I feel like his laning is better than most of the mids in the league. He actually tries to do something instead of other mid laners just not doing anything, taking zero risks, and just giving prio. I feel like he actually tries to do something, which I think is better than most mids in the LCS.”

His praises, ironically, proved to be of significant accuracy; Abbedagge nearly solo-killed jojopyun twice in lane before finding first blood onto him with the help of Closer and Huhi. A team fight, just minutes later, further spiraled the narrative of the formidability of Abbedagge when he earned a quadrakill, and put his team in a winning position 17 minutes into the game.

From there, impressive team play combined with championship-level coordination allowed 100T to close out the LCS Summer Split match, placing them just one win away from the EG’s first place lead.