Had the chance to interview SparkChief on why he joined VP ahead of Stage 2!

After their Top 8 finish at the Mid-Season Finals, 100 Thieves enter Stage 2 with 10 league points and are currently sitting in a strong position in the Americas Grand Finals race.

There are 4 Americas spots at the Grand Finals:

• Stage 2 winner automatically qualifies
• The next 3 teams qualify based on total league points

Here’s what 100T needs depending on where they finish Stage 2.

1st: AUTO QUALIFIED

100 Thieves win Stage 2 and automatically qualify for the Grand Finals.

2nd: 28 Points

Clinched.

18 Stage 2 points + their current 10 gives them 28 total points.

There aren’t enough teams that can pass them to knock them out of a points qualification spot.

3rd: 26 Points

Clinched.

16 Stage 2 points puts 100T at 26 total.

Again, there aren’t enough possible teams above them for 100T to fall outside the three points-qualified spots.

4th: 24 Points

Basically qualified, but there are very specific tiebreak scenarios.

A 4th-place finish gives 100T 24 total points.

There cannot be three non-winning teams that finish above 24, so 100T cannot simply get pushed out on points.

The danger is a tie at 24 for the final qualification position.

The teams capable of being at or above that number include:

• Liquid
• Swamp Gaming
• Yeah We Lost

So 4th is an extremely strong result for 100T, but certain combinations involving YWL finishing 2nd and Liquid/Swamp finishing high enough could create a tiebreak at the cutoff.

TL;DR: Top 4 all but guarantees Grand Finals.

5th–6th: 20 Points

Needs help.

100T would finish with 20 total points.

Liquid is already extremely difficult for them to finish ahead of, while teams like:

• Swamp
• Yeah We Lost
• FlyQuest
• Stickdrift
• Sentinels
• TSM
• NRG
• SSG

can potentially move ahead of 20 depending on their Stage 2 placement.

The basic rule:

100T cannot have 3 non-Stage-2-winning teams finish above them in points.

If Liquid wins Stage 2, that's actually helpful for 100T's points path because Liquid takes the automatic qualification spot and is removed from the three points spots.

There are also possible 20-point ties, most notably:

• YWL finishing 4th
• Sentinels finishing 3rd
• TSM finishing 3rd

So 5th–6th keeps 100T very much alive especially cause there is no way I see current TSM or Sen finishing that high. Who knows with roster moves though.

7th–8th: 17 Points

Needs major help.

100T can still qualify, but they would need help.

The simple rule is:

• If Liquid or Swamp wins Stage 2: 100T can afford one other team to finish above 17 points.
• If neither Liquid nor Swamp wins: Liquid and Swamp already take two of the three points spots, so nobody else can pass 100T.

Teams like YWL, FlyQuest, Stickdrift, Sentinels and TSM can pass 17 with a Top 4 finish.

NRG or SSG finishing 4th would tie 100T at 17, which could force a tiebreak for the final spot.

TL;DR: 7th–8th keeps 100T alive, but they need Liquid/Swamp to take up the top of the bracket and limit how many teams behind them make deep runs.

9th–12th: 14 Points

Miracle/tiebreak territory.

100T would finish on only 14 total points.

At this point there is effectively no clean points qualification path. Their goal would instead be to somehow force a tie around the final qualification position.

For that to happen, things would need to go almost perfectly:

Liquid and Swamp need to occupy the very top of the bracket, ideally with one of them winning Stage 2.

Then 100T needs the teams chasing them to avoid scoring enough points to pass 14.

A team starting from zero such as Dreamland or Jolly Jesters finishing 4th could land on 14 and create the type of cutoff where a tiebreak becomes relevant.

Meanwhile, teams currently close behind 100T, particularly YWL, FlyQuest and Stickdrift, cannot be allowed to have strong finishes, because they would immediately move past 14.

So this isn't technically dead, but it's an extremely specific combination of results.

There are a lot more ways to breakdown their qualification paths but these are the simplest ones.

Who do you want to see next?

Hey y'all!

Was wondering from a viewer pov what y'all believed was missing from Stage 1's production that we can improve for Stage 2. Hoping we can suggest some things for the prod team and our talent team to work on to perfect the next stage's viewing experience. Thanks for tuning in and hope y'all are excited for the final stage of ignite this year once it starts!

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