Cloud 9 Run the Entire Gauntlet to Secure a Spot at Worlds
Just when you thought North America was out of surprises this split, Cloud 9 give us one for the books.
On top of CLG shocking the world and winning the Summer Split, Cloud 9 managed to squeeze into the World Championship picture at the very last moment. But wait, isn’t Cloud 9 a shoo in for Worlds anyway? What gives?
If you haven’t been paying attention to the LCS for the past few months, you’d be shocked to know that Cloud 9, 2-time North American champions, imploded this summer. After team captain Hai “Hai” Du Lam announced his retirement, a whole slew of problems were brought to light, and it almost looked like C9 were headed for relegation.
Note: Not the actual real life reaction to Hai stepping down.
In fact, they only narrowly avoided it by winning a tiebreaker against Team 8. And while this put them out of playoff contention, they garnered enough points during their Spring Split run to enter the Regional Qualifier.
Still, with how poorly C9 had been doing, it seemed like nobody expected much of them. In truth, many were hoping that deep down, the team would pull through. Hoping that Hai’s return would somehow save the team from the shame of being a bottom of the barrel team in NA.
And if you were there to see any of the best of 5 series that went down, your jaw would be on the floor at what Cloud 9 accomplished. In true Drake fashion, the started at the bottom, and then…
They Defied Gravity
Their first opponent already seemed like a tall order. For a good number of weeks, Gravity Gaming were the #1 team during the regular season. Gravity had great vision control provided by jungler Kang “Move” Min-su and Lae “Keane” Young-jang’s pocket picks in mid could keep any team guessing.
After losing two straight games involving strange Amumu and Karma picks, it seemed like Cloud 9 were done for, but they somehow flipped the a switch. Now Cloud 9 found comfort on picks like Braum and Viktor. Zachary “Sneaky” Scuderi put on a masterful performance on his classic Ashe to round out the reverse sweep as C9 crossed their first hurdle.
They Outlasted Impulse
Their next opponent was even more daunting. Team Impulse are a ruthless ball of death with a penchant for late season runs. They won 8 of their last 10 regular season matches and finished 3rd. Cloud 9’s lack of synergy throughout the summer would surely falter against TIP’s blitz.
For the most part, they did. C9 found themselves 2 games down yet again, both crushing defeats at the hands of a rabid Lee “Rush” Yoon-jae. But again, despite the games being sloppy, C9 prevailed. Sneaky had back-to-back monster performances on Vayne, and Nicolaj “Incarnati0n” Jensen even showed up on Diana, hearkening back to his solo queue days of legend, when he ruled the ladder with assassins.
At this point, Cloud 9 was so good at reverse sweeping, they may have looked like this:
They Rained on Liquid’s Parade
In a trope worthy of anime, Cloud 9 were the battered and bruised protagonist, already worn down by two worthy opponent. Beaten to near death twice already, they still had to contend with the toughest opponent of all: Team Liquid, who finished 1st in the regular season.
What happened next also seemed like something out of fiction. Cloud 9 found their second wind. Slowly but surely, they started to look like the coordinated team people fell in love with. The team that dominated their region and impressed everyone with their tight rotational play.
In a heart breaker for TL, Cloud 9 triumphed while only ceding 1 game to their opponents. No reverse sweep necessary! Once again, Sneaky was a living highlight reel, even busting out a Draven to wow the crowds. Incarnation delivered again with clutch Shockwaves on Orianna and superb Viktor play to boot. Before you knew it, the dust settled and when everything cleared, C9 had done the impossible.
This is the story of a team on the brink of internal collapse. This is the story of one of North America’s all time greatest League of Legends teams fighting tooth and nail to not fade away into obscurity. Cloud 9 fans rejoice, as Hai and company are going to the World Championships for the third year in a row!
Dark Clouds Ahead
But a word of warning for all you hoping for Cloud 9 to make an impact at Worlds. Yes, they made it and that in itself is impressive, but let’s not forget that the past 2 times, they qualified, they were at the top of the league.
This isn’t the same team that put out a 25-3 win/loss record. Perhaps they can pull off even more miracles, but a practical mind wouldn’t put much stock in that. With opponents such as Fnatic, ahq, SK Telecom, and LGD on the prowl, the forecast for Cloud 9’s chances doesn’t look too bright.
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