The LoL team 100 Thieves did not start well in the Summer Split of the American LCS. Therefore, it was decided to bench the well-known player Meteos. He publicly complained and was subsequently completely removed from the team.
What happened? In the first three weeks of the Summer Split, the team 100 Thieves managed only 1 win out of 6 games. Too little for a team that achieved 3rd place in the regular league in Spring 2020.
Therefore, the coach decided to temporarily bench the jungler William “Meteos” Hartman. However, he was completely against this and vented his anger on Twitter.
This led to further consequences and ultimately to his dismissal. In the meantime, the professional is showing remorse. It is not unusual for professionals to be temporarily benched. This also happened to the well-known LoL pro Doublelift, who had a poor Spring Split 2020.
Teammates were probably unaware of the timeout
Why was Meteos so upset? After Meteos was to take a seat on the bench for the upcoming week, he publicly complained in a now-deleted tweet. In it, he allegedly wrote, according to the website Forbes:
It’s quite strange to hear that the players on my team knew nothing of the decision or did not agree to it […].
Obviously, people who are not on the team know what’s best for the team.
He criticized the decision of the coach and the team officials because they did not speak with the players and obtain their agreement.
This tweet was followed by many reactions, with even fans of the LoL pro calling him unprofessional. The team of 100 Thieves also reacted to the tweet and has since parted ways with the professional.
How did Meteos react to the dismissal? In a post (via Twitlonger), Meteos spoke up again after the separation from 100 Thieves. He admits that his behavior was dumb and that he accepts the consequences:
Our results were not good, but I was not too concerned about it because we had a tight schedule and we were constantly improving in practice. After all, it was not the first time that we had a premature season slump from which we always recovered (Spring 2018, Spring 2020).
It goes without saying that I was shocked when I was told that I was benched after week 3. I let my emotions get the best of me and made some angry tweets, which were a mistake. It was unprofessional, and I take full responsibility for that mistake and accept all consequences that arise from it.
Meteos via Twitter
Apparently, the team offered Meteos a spot in the Academy Team. This is a team where young talents are nurtured and trained for the main team.
However, Meteos did not find the solution ideal and declined the offer:
I had the option to share time with him [Shane “Kenvi” Espinoza, the jungler of the team] for the rest of the season, but I would rather leave him the spot as a time share would not be ideal for either of us, nor for the rest of the team.
I let the team know that I am available if they need anything, but I am confident that they will be fine without me.
What’s next for Meteos? Meteos, who already won the LCS with Cloud9 and celebrated the biggest successes from 2013 to 2016, stated that he does not want to join a new team in the middle of the season.
However, under the tweet from 100 Thieves, there are some voices that no longer expect a return to the highest American league. It is said that he is too bound to tank-junglers and is already relatively old. Many teams are filled with stronger and younger talents.
He could face a similar path as his former teammate Zachary “Sneaky” Scuderi. He was a successful and popular bot-laner at Cloud 9 for many years but withdrew in early 2020 due to internal conflicts.
