Despite losing the first map and falling behind in the second, against the 100 Thieves Gambit, he returned to surprise EMEA favorites, becoming the first team to make it to the playoffs in VCT Masters Three Berlin.
On Ascent, a Gambit-selected map, Gambit chose to play aggressively, but 100 Thieves came prepared for that playstyle.
Some of the Gambit players kept the first half close, for example, thanks to Jett's d3ffo's playmaking efficiency, and Gambit finished the first half leading 7-5.
100T's force rounds didn't give the NA team any business against one of the tournament's top defensive teams. Gambit crushed 100T in the second half and took the Ascent map 13-5.
D3ffo gave the advantage to Gambit in Icebox with his effective play. The strong defense team had an equally dangerous attack plan: well-timed, determined and difficult to predict. Gambit took a 100-6 lead before a 1T timeout and took a 9-3 lead in attack before halftime.
Sheydos and nAts did two retakes in the pistol round, but the 100T made a slow comeback, clinging to the post-plants to stay alive. The 100T was 10-3 behind but brought the situation to 11-11, with a classic Hiko clutch clinching the comeback in Icebox to send the series to map three.
The 100T started defensively in Split and their aggressive play forced Gambit to make pushes under pressure and with a small number of people. Gambit took a few rounds with only a few full buys, but thanks to LAN veterans nitr0 and steel, several 1v1 scenarios won 100 Thieves. NA duelist took advantage of Asuna Jett (17 kills with agent), leading 9-3 100T at halftime. Despite taking the pistol round, the 100T still had to contend with a strong Gambit defense, but another Hiko gear provided the necessary momentum for the 100T to eventually drag themselves to the finish line.
The fact that 100 Thieves won came as a surprise, considering how the series started, giving Gambit decisively the first half of map one and map two. It looked like Gambit would dominate their second consecutive series after crushing Japan's Crazy Raccoon in the tournament opening, losing just one map each in the series. With this win after defeating Havan Liberty on the first day, 100T advanced to the play-offs.