Cloud9 vs. 100 Thieves: 2021 LCS Summer betting analysis

100 Thieves will attempt to take down defending LCS champion Cloud9 in its opening match of the summer split. 

Cloud9 will return to the LCS after an action-packed MSI event where the LCS representatives sadly didn’t do as well as many would have hoped for. Now that Cloud9 is back in the LCS, it will fight to defend its trophy and get back in shape. To try and stop that defense, 100 Thieves will showcase its newly updated roster. 

With the new LCS format, all teams will be starting at the same record that the spring split ended, which means that Cloud9 will enter the split in the first place. 100 Thieves will be a bit behind in fourth, so a win here would do wonders for 100T.  

After the results from spring, there shouldn’t be any doubt that Cloud9 is entering this match as the favorite. The team has already proven itself in the LCS with its updated squad and also managed to take down some good teams at MSI 2021. What Cloud9 is still lacking is consistency, which might be the focal point of summer. 

Moving into this split, both teams have made changes to their starting roster. For Cloud9, the team will be playing with Calvin “K1ng” Truong in the bot lane instead of veteran Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen. This move is definitely risky for Cloud9, as bringing in a young rookie will make the bot lane more vulnerable. For 100 Thieves, this means that the bot lane might be a winning condition and a place where jungler Can “Closer” Çelik should put his focus. 

For 100 Thieves, there will be plenty of questions going into this match as well. In mid, the team has brought in former Schalke 04 player Felix “Abbedagge” Braun. This move is looking like a solid upgrade for the team, but will likely still require some games to build up synergy. Going up against Luka “Perkz” Perković in his LCS debut match, Abbedagge will have his work cut out for him. 

The match will essentially be a battle between  who can execute best. It’s expected that Cloud9 will come out on top, as the mid lane is currently very important when paired up with the jungle. Perkz and Robert “Blaber” Huang already have synergy built up that Abbedagge and Closer likely can’t keep up with. In the bot lane, 100 Thieves could get an advantage, but K1ng and Philippe “Vulcan” Laflamme should be smart enough to play it slow and let the rest of the map gain advantages.    

Cloud9 vs. 100 Thieves rosters

Cloud9 roster: 

• Top – Ibrahim “Fudge” Allami
• Jungle – Robert “Blaber” Huang
• Mid – Luka “Perkz” Perković
• Bot – Calvin “K1ng” Truong
• Support – Philippe “Vulcan” Laflamme

100 Thieves roster: 

• Top – Kim “Ssumday” Chan-ho
• Jungle – Can “Closer” Çelik
• Mid – Felix “Abbedagge” Braun
• Bot – Tommy “FBI” Huang
• Support – Choi “huhi” Jae-hyun

Cloud9 likely to take down 100 Thieves in LCS Summer

After returning from MSI, Cloud9 might be a bit burned out, but will also enter the split with a lot of experience in the bag. Even though the team has had less time to prepare for the LCS, it’s still expected that Cloud9 will walk away with a victory. Their edge in the mid lane with Perkz will likely be enough for the team to secure leads. Helped out by Blaber in the jungle, Perkz can pop off at any time. Trying to punish Abbedagge in his first LCS game will be a great win condition for Cloud9. There’s always a chance that 100 Thieves can surprise, but with the given odds, the value is there for Cloud9. 

As the big favorite for the match, a win for Cloud9 will only give an odds of 1.42. Meanwhile, a win for 100 Thieves would give a much higher odds of 2.65. Since it’s a best-of-one anything can happen, but Cloud9 is the safe bet.

The brawl between Cloud9 and 100 Thieves takes place on Saturday, June 5.