100 Thieves survive Nail-Biting encounter with EDward Gaming in the VCT LOCK//IN Omega Bracket.

100 Thieves (100T) take on EDward Gaming (EDG) in their first match of the Omega Bracket at the VCT LOCK//IN tournament in Sao Paulo.

100 Thieves will be looking to make a strong first impression when they take the stage at LOCK//In; just like many of their Americas' League colleagues so far at this tournament. While they were not as active in the offseason as many of their compatriots, they did manage to acquire Cryocells from XSET amidst a slew of changes to their coaching staff. The roster have already tasted success together; winning the Red Bull Home Ground event in Manchester, England in December. And while they are heavily favored in this match, it goes without saying that this will be far from easy for 100 Thieves.

They will be going up against EDward Gaming, who are one of two Chinese teams that have been invited to participate at the LOCK//IN tournament. EDG last took to the stage at VALORANT Champions 2022 and impressed many with their aggressive, and some times unorthodox, playstyle. Though they will not be playing in any of the Franchise leagues this season, EDG will be looking to reach new heights here in Sao Paulo.

The match begins with a trip to Icebox. EDG take the first pistol round after a frisky encounter with 100T. They take the second round as well. 100 Thieves respond well to win the succeeding two rounds. The NA side continued to build out their lead, but EDG are making them fight for every single inch of ground. EDG make a valiant attempt to stall 100T's momentum. But it is advantage to 100 Thieves as they take an 8 - 4 lead into halftime.

100 Thieves taking the first two rounds of the second half to extend their lead to 10 - 4. EDG take the bonus round to give themselves a chance at a comeback in this map. And they manage to take three more rounds off the back of a timeout. 100T stands firm to push it to map point at 12 - 7. EDG continue to push the opposition as they reduce the lead to 12 - 10; thwarting a near insane ace clutch from Bang in the process. But when the chips were down 100 Thieves manage to survive the late onslaught from EDG to secure the map win on Icebox 13 - 10.

After surviving a close run encounter on Icebox, 100 Thieves head into EDG's map pick, Lotus, with a 1 - 0 lead in the series. EDG take the opening pistol round after a big clutch from Smoggy. And they take the second round in a tense Spectre vs Stinger gun match up. 100 Thieves answer back with two rounds of their own. EDG quickly regains their 2 round advantage off the back of two big plays from CHICHOO and Haodong. But 100T rip off five rounds in a row to guarantee themselves the lead going into halftime. EDG continues to make life difficult for the NA side as they keep the deficit to only 7 - 5.

100 Thieves manage to secure a very scrappy pistol round, but EDward Gaming responds with two of their own. And they continue to ramp up the aggression as they take the lead at 9 - 8. It looked for a moment like 100T were going to tie the map up again, but CHICHOO makes a huge play to take EDG to double digits on this map. 100T attempts to stabilize, but EDG continue to pile on the pressure. EDward Gaming closes out Lotus 13 - 9 to tie up the series.

With EDward Gaming securing their map pick Lotus, the teams head to Pearl for the decisive bout in this series. EDG gets the edge early on with three clinical round wins in a row. 100 Thieves answers back with two of their own. But CHICHOO comes up with big clutch for his team once more as EDG create a solid lead for themselves in the game. The NA side do manage to stabilize a little bit, but EDG still manage to take a 7 - 5 lead into halftime. The first time that EDward Gaming have had the lead at halftime on a map in this series.

100 Thieves get off to a much better start in the second half with two scrappy round wins to tie up the map at 7 - 7. But EDG responds with three of their own to re-establish command over Pearl. 100 Thieves claw themselves back in with two flawless rounds to reduce the lead to 10 - 9. The NA side do manage to tie the map at 10 - 10. But two more insane clutches ought of EDG puts them on match and series point. Only for Stellar to respond with two big plays of his own to force Pearl into Overtime.

100 Thieves comes up big in the first round of OT to give themselves the lead on this map for the first time. EDward Gaming put up an incredible fight from start to finish in this series. But in the end there was only one winner, and that team ended up being 100 Thieves as they closed out Pearl 14 - 12 to win the series 2 - 1.

All of the matches at the VCT LOCK//IN tournament are being livestreamed from the Ginásio do Ibirapuera venue in Sao Paulo. This single-elimination, bracket-style tournament features all 30 of the Franchise Teams competing in the VCT this season, alongside two Chinese teams who were invited to participate. Fans who wish to watch this 100 Thieves vs EDward Gaming Omega Bracket matchup may do so by heading to the VALORANT Twitch channel.

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