Cloud 9’s Mid Laner Steps Down from Active Roster

As was announced on Cloud 9’s official website, their League of Legends team will be going into the Summer Split of the LCS without its original mid laner, team captain, shot caller and most of all longtime friend, Hai “Hai” Lam.

This comes after Cloud 9 finished 2nd in the Spring Split, losing to their eternal rivals, Team Solo Mid, for the second split in a row. While it would be easy to assume that Cloud 9 will be a good team in the North American scene no matter what, they don’t want to be good — they want to be the best.

It is with this in mind that it becomes clearer to see why Hai has chosen to say ‘bai’ to being on the active roster, citing his wrist injuries hindering his improvement as a player and the motivational issues that came with it. His decision is framed as being for the benefit of his teammates, whom he feels have progressed much further in skill than he can keep up with due to the limited game time afforded by his health.

Who was Hai, the player?

The reason why this is huge news for the Cloud 9 team is because not only is one of their number leaving them and thus ending the most stable roster in professional League of Legends history (around 740 days since the 5 players rallied under the Quantic Gaming banner), that member is probably the most difficult to replace. Hai was a unique personality in many ways, and it’s his eclectic combination of traits inside and outside of the game that has made him an invaluable asset to the team beyond what his mechanical skill level could provide.

Let’s look at some of the major ways Hai influenced the style that made Cloud 9 so dominant in their region for two years.

The Tactical Genius

Anyone who has watched Cloud 9 play could tell you that what makes Cloud 9 stand out is how tight their calls are. They were known for bringing in a greater emphasis on grouping and rotations, well before the rest of North America caught on to the level of play that made Korean teams lord over the rest of the world.

Hai always seemed to come up with a plan to lead his team to victory.

Whether it was grouping for an early dragon, fast pushing multiple towers in succession or split pushing up a storm, when on point Cloud 9 was a team that seemed to be at least three steps ahead of their opponents. Not to mention their team fights were crisp and clean, showing great intuitive sense of when to back off, regroup, turn or disengage at just the right moments.

All this was possible with Hai being the primary shot caller of the team. Under his quick and decisive leadership, Cloud 9 could snowball leads to crushing victories, which is underscored by the team having the best LCS record of all time at 25 wins with only 3 losses in the Summer Split of 2013. To follow that up with a 24-4 record in the spring 0f 2014 shows how ahead of the game Cloud 9 once was in terms of North American teams.

But even more impressive than Hai’s ability to lead his team into snowballs was his uncanny sense of getting his team back from a deficit. Even against seemingly insurmountable odds, Hai would go on a solo mission to distract the enemy with a split push, or find a way to stall and make the enemy run around in circles while Cloud 9 maneuvered into an objective take.

For a prime example, witness how Cloud 9 nearly clawed their way back to a victory against Korean powerhouse Samsung Galaxy Blue in the quarterfinals of the 2014 World Championships. With the right calls, Cloud 9 got as far as hitting the enemy Nexus despite being 8 thousand gold down!

The Selfless Carry

When one would describe a carry shot calling for the team, it’s easy to see a star player maneuvering the more expendable members of his team in front of him in order to secure useful advantages he himself can use to win the game. Such was the case for the premier carry shot callers of yesteryear such as Bok “Reapered” Hangyu or Gao “WeiXiao” Xue Cheng or even in Hai’s contemporary, TSM’s mid laner Søren “Bjergsen” Bjerg.

These players are the focal points of their team, and their leadership demands precious resources to be funneled their way. Hai was a shot caller that thrived in the counter-culture. He had a unique perspective to the game, and a pragmatic, down-to-earth attitude that allowed him to constantly sacrifice himself and his performance in a game for the betterment of his team.

While most headline players in eSports are known for being confident to the point of being egotistical, Hai was never afraid to admit that his skills may not match up to his lane opponent. When he could be aggressive, he would take every opportunity to be as his games on Kha’Zix, LeBlanc or his beloved Zed will show. But when faced with an insurmountable foe, he had no qualms about taking the back seat and giving farm over to teammates who were in a better position to win.

This is the main reason why Cloud 9’s jungler, Will “Meteos” Hartman, had such a great Season 3 showing. A good chunk of the farm usually reserved for the mid laner was forfeited to give the jungler carry power, which Meteos did use to great effect on the likes of Zac. In more recent splits, Hai has sacrificed his stock in the game to pave the way for Zachary “Sneaky” Scuderi to bring Cloud 9 to victory. This has resulted in Sneaky becoming arguably the best AD Carry in North America at the moment.

The Dedicated Leader

Hai wasn’t just a banner to rally around when Cloud 9 was battling it out on the Summoner’s Rift. His passion for competition and sometimes downright heart was an inspiration to those around him. To be the best team in a region is no mean feat, and to have been so dominant with the same five players for so long requires a ton of motivation.

In this regard, Hai has always been a rock for the team. Any interview with the man will show you that he never gives into any hype and always stays focused. He respects his opponents, looks at odds realistically and never takes his eyes off the prize. It’s no surprise then that Cloud 9 as a team remained so hungry for victory when they had Hai to light a fire under them while still keeping them in check.

More than being an inspiration to his team however, Hai is a beacon of motivation for anyone who decides to dedicate themselves to a sport, long term endeavor or any dream-to-be-turned-reality. In the above video, you will see the time Hai missed out on the All-Stars Paris event in 2014 due to a collapsed lung. The fact that he showed no fear and continued to cheer his team on and make sure his replacement was in order despite all the pain he was going through shows how much of himself Hai was willing to give to his team and his career as a professional gamer.

From getting right back on the horse and training after such an injury, to being met with wrist injuries that cut his practice time, that Hai remained focused on staying on top of the North American scene makes his efforts seem even more herculean. Not being able to play for more than three hours at a time before having to ice his wrists due to the pain could have been too much for the average player, but Hai soldiered on and kept his cool every time he showed up on stage wearing his wrist braces.

The Future of Cloud 9

Though Hai’s days on the team have ended, Cloud 9 General Manager Jack Etienne was quick to note that Hai would not be leaving the organization altogether. His capacity as a professional player may be reduced, but Hai’s intuition and leadership skills will be put to use as Cloud 9’s Chief Gaming Officer. Instead of calling the shots on the Rift, Hai will now oversee the recruitment and training of new talents for the organization’s teams, as well as other business related duties.

As for who will replace Hai, Cloud 9’s management has not given an official statement as of this writing. There has been heavy speculation that European solo queue prodigy Nicolaj “Incarnati0n” Jensen will be filling in Hai’s shoes, but nothing can be proven at this point. Even Cloud 9’s remaining members seem content with leading the community astray as to who their new teammate could be.

But rest assured that whoever we see in the mid lane will likely be a positive influence for Cloud 9 moving forward. Hai has shown that he always tries to do what’s best for Cloud 9 in game or otherwise, from rotating to Baron to rotating himself out of the roster. As for the fans, they can be happy with the time Hai gave to the team and the community, as one of the foremost tactical minds in all of professional League of Legends graciously makes his exit from the team he built up to be one of North America’s all-time greatest.

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