100 Thieves announce Academy Roster featuring Levi and Linsanity

The 100 Thieves organization have bolstered their Academy roster in a big way with the acquisition of former Gigabyte Marine Levi as he gets set for a North American debut.

Making a statement

The 100 Thieves organization has been under the microscope since their owner Nadeshot announced his partnership with the Cleveland Cavaliers to own a spot in the NA LCS. After a fruitful offseason saw them acquire big name talents like Ssumday and Aphromoo for their main squad, many were left wondering if their big money moves would trickle down to the Academy roster as well. After the official unveiling on December 26th via Twitter, 100 Thieves fans were ecstatic with the news as their roster of Kaizen, Levi, Linsanity, Rikara and Whyin was formally introduced.

The big acquisition for this Academy squad is obviously at the Jungler role as Levi leaves his familiar surroundings in Vietnam for greener pastures in North America. During the 2017 season, Levi earned heavy praise from all regions in the East as it was rumoured he was learning Korean for a possible switch to the LCK during All-Stars. This move comes as a big surprise given Levi’s excelling capacity to carry from the Jungle role. Even though he won’t feature in the NA LCS (for now), this will be a great opportunity for him to get acquainted with English communication in a lower stress environment as he gets his feet settled in the United States. Time will tell if the Academy scene will be a breeding ground for more highlight Levi plays as he has three capable lanes surrounding him.

Synergy in motion

Featuring in the top side of the map for 100 Thieves Academy is Kaizen and Linsanity at Top and Mid respectively. Kaizen had a promising showing at the Scouting Grounds this past year, but there’s still room for him to grow in terms of champion pool and overall synergy with teleport in high stress situations.

Linsanity was a featured Mid laner the year before in Scouting Grounds as he spent most of 2017 learning the tricks of the trade as a member of CLG Academy. This year will definitely be a step up for Linsanity in terms of responsibility and overall need to perform. NA has been a region that has lacked decent Mid laners for a majority of its history, with the right amount of emphasis on his lane from Levi, Linsanity might finally get a chance to shine and show off the solo queue prowess that got him to this point.

Rounding out the team in the bot lane is former Gold Coin United duo, Rikara and Whyin. Having a bot lane that has previously played together will be crucial to survival in these opening weeks of Academy play. While Rikara and Whyin were not always the go to carries for Locodoco’s former team, Rikara showed signs of brilliance against Doublelift in the promotion tournament last split and will look to continue on that moniker of ‘Baby Pray’ as he works on his synergy with Whyin. Whyin has been reintegrating his game this offseason to provide more depth in play style leading up to this Spring Split. All in all, 100 Thieves has yet again crafted a roster to be proud of going forward, time will tell if Levi and co. can deliver on their promising talent.

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