As the only team to keep their roster intact during the off-season, 100 Thieves had plenty of expectations to live up to, but an early exit from the 2022 LCS Lock In tournament threw that into doubt going into the Spring Split. 100 Thieves wasted no time dashing any concerns with a bounceback 2-0 week against LCS Lock In champion Team Liquid and Counter Logic Gaming. 

After week 1 of the 2022 LCS Spring Split, 100 Thieves AD Carry Victor “FBI” Huang spoke to Inven Global about bouncing back from an early Lock In exit, Worlds 2021, his offseason, and more. 

Congrats on your win, FBI. What’s it like to start off the spring split 2-0 after getting knocked out of the Lock In tournament early?

It definitely feels pretty nice to win, obviously. And it's I feel nice because I feel like we've improved a lot since the Lock In. Obviously, the Lock In was not ideal, and, frankly, embarrassing, but I'm glad that we're able to bounce back pretty well. And I think that it was a good thing. And we have improved a lot.

How was this offseason for you? I know that you and the rest of the team boot camp over in Korea, how was that like? Do you feel like the time spent over there was well worth it?

It was honestly quite great, because I was able to go home, firstly, back home to Australia. I wasn't able to go home for three and a half years. And it was really nice to be able to go home, see my family and friends and just kind of relax.

In terms of the Korean boot camp, we had some unfortunate things. But overall, it was a really good experience to play Korean solo Q and Korean and Challgeer Series Korean teams. And I think we did learn a lot, although we weren't able to quite show it at the start of the Lock In.

Out of all of the teams in the LCS 100 Thieves was the only one to not remove a single of their players following last season. What was that like for you? Did it ever cross your mind that changes would be made to the roster even though that same roster just won a championship? Or did you expect this roster to remain for that same reason?

Obviously, every season, from a player's perspective, you can never really fully know that there are not going to be any roster swaps, because there are always going to be free agents that are on the market. For example, if 100 thieves were able to get Gumayusi I'm sure I would be out again.

There are no guarantees, but I was really happy to be able to play the same roster because I think during our Worlds run we weren't really able to show what we're capable of. And I just want to run it back, make Worlds, win another Split and prove that we can contend with the best in the world.

At the beginning of last season, you answered, when prompted “Yeah, f**k it, I’ll save LCS.” What are your thoughts on the state of LCS as well as your place in it after garnering praise for your performance and winning a trophy?

Yeah, unfortunately, I wasn't able to live up to my word last year due to a pretty disappointing Worlds run. But I will say that the LCS is definitely far more interesting this year. There are a bunch of storylines like Bjerg coming back, LS and Cloud9, and other changes I’d say that are very positive. So I'm really glad. I'm happy in the direction the LCS is going, and I hope I can be like a staple in the LCS and continue to be one of the best ADCs.

You got to face many talented players at Worlds 2021, but EDward Gaming AD carry Park "Viper" Do-hyeon is one that stands out when people talk about international AD carries. What was it like to play against him, given that he went deathless in his first four games of the tournament and EDG won Worlds?

It's always a treat to be able to play against a World-class bot laner such as Viper. I will say I was a bit more excited to play Gumayusi during worlds because he started to gain a lot of buzz. I think he’s just a really insanely mechanical player, and I feel like he has a very good understanding of how to pressure lane and exactly how to position in teamfights.

I will say I was excited to face Gumayusi, but Viper’s obviously one of the best in the world. So it was just a treat to get to play, understand and learn from them.

You’re approaching three years of LCS play. You first started on Golden Guardians after having been moved up from their Academy team and later made your way over to 100 Thieves. In what is soon to be three years of LCS for you, what do you think of your career in it thus far? Do you think you’ve accomplished some goals that you may have given yourself at the start or is there still much more to do?

I think definitely, in terms of the LCS, I've accomplished most of the goals that I've set out. That doesn't mean that I'm not still hungry to achieve more here but my goal is headed through NA from Australia was to become the best ADC in the league and to win the Split. And I think I've achieved both but I really, really want to get more titles and cement myself as one of the best AD Carries ever in the league.

I'd also just like to shout out Inero from Golden Guardians for bringing me over from Australia and giving me a chance to prove myself. Without him, I don't think I’d be here.

Last year you and support Choi "huhi" Jae-hyun were considered amongst the best bot laners in the LCS. Now that the LCS saw another hectic offseason that shifted around most rosters, who do you think will be the toughest bottom lane to face in the season?

I predict that Team Liquid with CoreJJ when he gets his green card and Hans sama will be our toughest opponent in the bot lane. [I] haven't got to play versus or see much of Berserker yet, but I'm pretty sure he'll be pretty good as well. But I think Team Liquid will probably the toughest competition. And possibly EG, I think EG is playing pretty well.

What are your personal goals for this LCS season? Is it to remain amongst the top in the AD role for the league? What are FBI’s aspirations?

Coming out from Australia, I was a big Doublelift fan. I used to really enjoy watching Doublelift play. It would be quite nice and fitting, at least for me, if we were able to do a five-peat of the title, seeing that Doublelift got four. I want to be able to surpass that and win five titles in a row.

All images by: Riot Games