Cloud9 have amassed five championships over their time in the LCS, with another title added just recently added to their trophy case. While Cloud9 has a great legacy in the LCS, the first seed from the LCS will now have to prove themselves on an international stage once again.
Cloud9 is now representing North America as the first seed and will head over to New York City’s Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden for Worlds’ group stage. They will have to go through a tough group of T1 and EDG, but Cloud9 are no strangers to miracle runs through world group stages. Will they be able to pull out another strong run into the semi-finals? Fans can only wait and see.
Cloud9 (LCS) starting roster breakdown
Top: Ibrahim “Fudge” Allami – Signed in Oct 2020
Mid: Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen – Signed in May 2022
Jungle: Robert “Blaber” Huang – Signed July 2022
Support: Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen – Signed June 2021
Bot: Kim “Berserker” Min-cheol – Signed Nov 2021
How they got here
In the 2022 season, Cloud9 decided to start anew and wanted to bring in a completely new squad centered around strong-performing rookies. Cloud9 brought in Nick “LS” De Cesare to coach the team and implement fresh ideas about how to run a League of Legends team. However, turmoil would hit a few weeks later as Cloud9 and LS decided to part ways in the middle of the spring split.
While the reasons for his departure aren’t clear to this day, what is clear is that the team went through rough waters throughout the rest of the spring split. They were able to get an upper bracket spot but were promptly swept by 100 Thieves in the LCS Spring Playoffs 2022. Their run ended soon after that with another 0-3 loss to Evil Geniuses. The losses to the two finalists showed that there was work to be done for Cloud9 if they were to make worlds in the summer split.
Cloud9 had to restructure their whole team once again as they entered the Summer split. They moved Zven from the academy team, switching him to support. They moved Fudge back to top and added Jensen back to the team after he had taken a competitive hiatus.
Throughout the Summer Split, Cloud9 did well but was struggling to beat the higher-tier teams in the league — namely 100 Thieves and Evil Geniuses. They tied against Team Liquid and 100 Thieves throughout the season but were down 0-2 against Evil Geniuses. They had to play a tiebreaker against FlyQuest to make it into the upper bracket of the playoffs. However, from this point forward Cloud9 would only continue to get stronger as the playoffs went by.
They had a tough series against CLG that went all five games and their prospects seemed tumultuous. Their next series against Evil Geniuses was a deciding series, where they were able to beat the previous champions in a 3-1 bout. Fudge’s Fiora with Blaber’s WuKong went off in the second game and proved that Fiora was indeed playable outside of the top level of the LPL. They then sent the second seed 100 Thieves to the lower bracket with the same 3-1 result. Finally, Cloud9 cruised their way to the finals in Chicago, waiting for Evil Geniuses and 100 Thieves at the endpoint. They eventually won that final in a clean sweep and booked their ticket to worlds.
Cloud9 are your 2022 #LCS Champions pic.twitter.com/S2bVllmizn
— LCS (@LCSOfficial) September 11, 2022
Players to watch
The grand finals of the LCS truly cemented Cloud 9’s strength, and in turn, Berserker’s ability as a carry. Cloud9 dominated the finals 3-0 against 100 Thieves, and cemented their place as LCS champions. Jensen won his first title with Cloud9, and Berserker came out to prove to the world that he was ready to compete with the rest of the world at the World Championships. With an astonishing 23/1/24 KDA across three matches, North America might have a top-five AD Carry in the world on their side.
BERSERKER ZOOMER #LCS pic.twitter.com/53ER2aev1y
— LCS (@LCSOfficial) September 11, 2022
What can Cloud9 do to succeed at Worlds 2022?
At Worlds, Cloud9’s focus should be on their two strongest players, Blaber and Berserker. Using the mid-jungle synergy that Jensen and Blaber have built up in order to create space and allow berserker’s mechanical skill to carry them into the late game. However, this will be easier said than done.
Cloud9’s group includes T1, one of the most dominant teams that the LCK has ever seen, and EDG, the previous world champions. The North American representatives will have their work cut out for them if they plan on making it into the final bracket. Cloud9 did the same last year to make it out of their group, so who’s to say they can’t do it again?
The advantage that Cloud9 has is that there are players around Berserker that can help him with his relative lack of experience on the world stage. Jensen, Blaber, and Fudge are no strangers to the pressures of performing on League of Legends’ biggest stage. If Berserker is able to find comfort in the pressure, Cloud9 might just be a team to watch out for in this year’s world championship.
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