100 Thieves officially announced that they will be entering next year’s Americas league with Matthew “Cryocells” Panganiban, the organization’s new superstar duelist.
The Valorant competitive scene recently had an influx of free agents after multiple organizations were left out of Riot Games’ partnership program. At the top of the free agency list is former OpTic Gaming superstar, Jaccob “yay” Whiteaker, who is arguably still the best Valorant player in the world.
According to 100T CEO Matthew “Nadeshot” Haag in a recent stream, his organization decided Cryo would be a better choice for the team moving forward.
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Cryocells was the best fit for 100T, says Nadeshot
“We got accepted into the partnership program and the stakes are very high,” said Nadeshot. “We want to be the very best team we can possibly be, and Cryo fits what we felt the team really needs more of.”
Nadeshot explained that 100T had “a lot of interest” in signing yay, and that “it wasn’t a matter of expense or common ground” on why they ultimately chose Cryo.
“Anybody would be silly to not consider yay to join their team,” said Nadeshot. “He has dominated Valorant for the last two years, and I think any team that lands yay will be very happy with their investment.”
The 100T CEO explained that if Cryo wasn’t a good fit for 100T, he would have jumped at the opportunity to work with the man they call El Diablo.
“At the end of the day, yay is probably the best player in the world,” he said. “But we just think that Cryo, at this moment in time, is the best fit for the rest of the team.”
Nadeshot sees room for more growth in cryo’s play. “He’s just 19 and Valorant is his first competitive game. If he’s already playing at this level, we feel that with the right investment, time, and resources, he could rival yay one day as the best player in the world.”
100T is known for having one of the youngest teams in North America with Peter “Asuna” Mazuryk being 19, and Sean “bang” Bezerra only 18. Nadeshot believes that cryo would fit right in. “Keeping everyone at the same level is the best step forward for us.”
Cryo on joining 100T and replacing Will
The former XSET star expressed how excited he was in 100T’s announcement video.
He looks forward to working with 100T’s Sean “sgares” Gares and Michael “Mikes” Hockom, or what Cryo refers to as “the best coaching staff out of all the five NA teams.”
“100T was one of my dream organizations as a kid,” he said. “I’m really stoked to move to LA with the team.”
Moving forward, Cryo’s goal is to cement himself as the best duelist in North America. “I’m competing with the likes of yay and other duelists, but I’m going to put in the work and others need to be ready.”
Having signed a new duelist, 100T decided to release William “Will” Cheng from its active roster. According to Will, the past 48 hours have been “super emotional,” but he is still motivated to continue his esports career as an unrestricted free agent.
100 Thieves’ Valorant roster
- Peter “Asuna” Mazuryk
- Derrek “Derrek” Ha
- Brenden “stellar” McGrath
- Sean “bang” Bezerra
- Matthew “Cryocells” Panganiban
100T will be competing against Cloud9, Evil Geniuses, NRG, Sentinels, KRÜ Esports, FURIA, LOUD, Leviatán, and MIBR in the Americas league next year.
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