Thieves Hardpoint Run in Madrid

While the LA Thieves lost to the Atlanta FaZe in the Grand Finals of Major 1, the team has plenty to build off of heading into the future. Here is a breakdown of their Hardpoint run at the Major and why they were the best Hardpoint team at the event.

They started the season as the best Hardpoint team in the game, giving them a strong foundation for winning series. They started 7-1, looking great across multiple maps including Rewind. 

📸 Photo by @CODLeague

Their form seemed to disappear after the holiday break suddenly. Why? Rewind was removed from the map pool in favor of Hacienda, while the pace of the game sped up due to weapon balancing. This resulted in a 1-6 streak for the Thieves, dropping their season record to just 8-7. A once dominant Hardpoint team looked lost going into the first Major. 

Madrid Magic

While they came into the Madrid Major with little momentum, the Thieves were still one of the favorites to win the event. While the team was one of the best in Control, they’d need Hardpoint to click over the weekend if they wished to hoist the trophy.

📸 Photo by @CODLeague

LA would find the form they had been looking for, going 7-1 over the weekend. That included 3-1 against Atlanta, 2-0 versus Carolina, and 2-0 against Miami. It wasn’t just one map boosting the map pool, as the Thieves went 3-0 on Skyline, 2-0 on Red Card, and 2-1 on Hacienda. Here are their advanced analytics & ranks for teams that played more than one series:

○ 7-1 Record, 87.5% Win Percentage - 1st
○ 5-0 in Map 1s - 1st
○ +80.9 average margin - 1st
○ 1.19 team K/D - 1st
○ 26.1 points per minute - 1st
○ +8.5 net points per minute - 1st
○ 53% rotation win percentage - 4th
○ 79.4% hold percentage - 1st
○ 34.1 points per hold opportunity - 1st (This is the avg. points when winning the rotation)
○ +21.3 net points per hold opportunity - 1st (This is the avg. points for minus avg. points against when winning the rotation)
○ 57.1% hold efficiency - 1st (This is the points earned when winning rotation divided by the max points they could’ve earned)
○ 40% break percentage - 2nd
○ 17.7 points per break opportunity - 2nd (This is the avg. points when losing the rotation)
○ -7.6 net points per break opportunity - 1st (This is the avg. points for minus avg. points against when losing the rotation)
○ 29.5% break efficiency - 2nd (This is the points earned when losing rotation divided by the max points they could’ve earned)

The Thieves led in eleven different overall stat categories in Hardpoint while also being 2nd in another three categories. The dominant stretch included:

○ 250-47 win on Hacienda vs Carolina
○ 250-66 win on Skyline vs Carolina
○ 250-236 win on Skyline vs Miami
○ 250-107 win on Red Card vs Atlanta
○ 238-250 loss on Hacienda vs Atlanta
○ 250-169 win on Skyline vs Miami
○ 250-237 win on Hacienda vs Atlanta
○ 250-229 win on Red Card vs Atlanta

LA were easily the best team in the mode at Madrid, excellent in both holding & breaking. When teams are this efficient while winning rotations are a great clip, they will dominate maps. If they can continue this form into Stage 2, watch out for even more 100-point club performances on the horizon.