Facing elimination from the
League of Legends Worlds 2024,
100 Thieves now faces the
harsh reality of their failed heist. Falling to PSG Talon in a 0-2 defeat, head coach
GoldenGlue reflected on the reasons behind the loss, his excitement for the 2025 Americas leagues, and his players' growth throughout the tournament during a conference interview.
What were the key factors behind the losses against R7 and PSG, and how do you plan to help the team recover next season?
Greyson Gregory "Goldenglue" Gilmer: "The key factors in the two losses were pretty different. Against R7, a big part was nerves for some of our players since it was their first time playing at Worlds. We definitely could have closed out game 2, but once we started losing, we struggled mentally to bounce back. This is something that also manifested itself in our second loss.
Today, against PSG, in game one, we made some early mistakes that put us behind, and the game became really hard to play. PSG kept up the pressure, and I don't think we fully reset from game one when we went into game two. We carried some of that negative energy and didn't have the same confidence we showed against SHG.
100 Thieves salutes the crowd one last time. Credit: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games
What are your expectations for next year with the unification of the leagues in the Americas?
Goldenglue: I think this tournament created some hype. Our games against R7 and today's match opposing paiN Gaming to R7 were all really exciting. So, if anything, it added to the hype and optimism for the merger. I was already feeling pretty optimistic about it. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun for the fans and a cool new experience for the league itself. So, I’m definitely optimistic about the change.
People have pointed out that Tomo and Quid didn’t perform as well as they did in the LCS when you beat Cloud9. As many pointed towards their nervousness, what did you try to help them get more comfortable, and did it work?
Goldenglue: For Tomo, I think he's still dealing with growing pains from joining our team so late in the season. We had that honeymoon phase at first, but then we had to face our problems and work through them again.
For Quid, I think the criticism is a bit overplayed. Yeah, he didn’t have a great Vex game against R7, but I still believe he’s an extremely good player. Like today, in game one, the enemy team was winning, but it wasn’t really about mid. The game was pretty unplayable for him. In game two, he was winning his lane, but we kept getting caught in 3v3s, and he couldn’t do much. I wouldn't say he had an underwhelming performance at Worlds.
We tried to get our players on comfort picks when we could to help alleviate stress. Like, in game 2 today, we picked Ziggs, which Tomo's good at. In game 1, Quid had Hwei, and yesterday, we picked Orianna and Ashe, which they’re both comfortable with. But it’s not always easy to get comfort picks in every draft, so I just tried my best. It’s tough to guarantee that in every scenario.
How do you reflect on the team's overall performance at Worlds, and what were the biggest positives and negatives?
Goldenglue: One of the biggest positives was how we bounced back after our first match loss, especially with how we performed versus SHG. That game showed the highlights of our team—yeah, we were a bit scrappy and sloppy, but our gameplay was really explosive.
Today was disappointing, though. I feel like we didn’t show up the way we could have. We could’ve made the games a bit scrappier and closer, but we kept getting picked off and didn’t get to play the team fights or execute our team play.
Another positive is that for four out of five players, it was their first time at Worlds, so I think it was a great experience for them. It was also my first time as a head coach at Worlds, so overall, it was a very positive experience for our growth.
What do you say to the team between games when they’ve just been stomped and aren’t playing as they should?
Goldenglue: After today’s first game, I told them not to focus on the VOD. I said, "Guys, don’t look at it. These were our early-game mistakes, but let’s move on. Our draft will be different, it’s a new game, fresh start." I tried to get them to turn the page.
When you play a frustrating game for 25-30 minutes, players get curious about why things went wrong. But at that moment, it’s not important. You need to focus on the next game. Maybe I could’ve done that even better, but that’s what I was trying to do."
Header Photo Credit: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games
