LoL - LTA North: Dhokla joins 100 Thieves as sixth man toplaner alongside Sniper

Rayan "Sniper" Shoura, after a breakout rookie year in 2024, has struggled to find his footing on the final ever 100 Thieves League of Legends roster. Over the course of the season, the young, boisterous toplaner has become increasingly mistake-prone, while losing his pop-off potential — the razor-sharp killer instinct that made him dangerous last year. Now, only weeks after former professional toplaner Niship "Dhokla" Doshi joined the team as a positional coach, Sniper will be sharing the team's starting toplane position with his coach.

Last year, 100T denied Cloud9 the Worlds berth everyone expected them to achieve, making a dark horse run to third place with a fan-favorite roster. Sniper, by all measures, had only improved throughout the year — his champion pool had grown, his overeager approach to outplays had been tempered, and his mechanical skill remained self-evident. Almost a year later, only shades of that player remain.

Sniper hasn't picked up key meta champions like Rumble, already making draft decision-making — especially against FlyQuest, Team Liquid, and C9, who excel at playing Rumble — much more difficult. His champ pool remains generally narrow compared to his peers, and his novelty counterpicks — Olaf and Riven, for example — are nowhere to be seen this split.

Over time, he's drifted away from feast-or-famine style that took him to the top of the league, but hasn't made significant progress in stability. He's trapped in a rut; among his peers, Sniper doesn't currently stand out in any skill or statistic. He needs time to earn his confidence back.

Dhokla, almost a decade older than Sniper, is well-practiced on the role-defining toplane champions that Sniper has struggled to master. His addition will give the team much-needed flexibility in Fearless Draft, giving top performing players like Lim "Quid" Hyeon-seung and Kim "River" Dong-woo the opportunity to carry from more stable game states.

100T doesn't have long before the end of the season — only one week remains in the Pick & Play phase, and then Bo5s will begin to determine eliminations. Making it to the top three for Cross-Conference play seemed like a pipe dream unless Sniper could return to form. But now, with Dhokla on the team, another way forward has presented itself.