Cloud 9’s Journey to Worlds 2015
Cloud 9 (C9) has always proven themselves to be a formidable force in the League of Legends (LoL) scene. With their tight-knit friendship and thrilling performances, they have amassed a large fan base. However, Season Five was a rough spot for C9. They went from being a top team in Season Four to a bottom three team in Season Five, raising many questions.
In the spring split, C9 showed signs of life, ending in second place. But then their mid laner and team captain, Hai Lam, retired. He was replaced by Incarnati0n, a former European LCS star with a bad reputation. Unfortunately, C9 started another split as an underperforming team.
It wasn’t until week 6 of the summer split that C9 started to show improvement. With Hai back on the team, communication improved and the team started to feel like a unit again. However, it wasn’t enough to make a full recovery and C9 ended the split in its lowest ever placing, seventh.
The Gauntlet: C9’s Last Chance
C9 had one last chance to prove themselves ready for Worlds. The NA LCS included an intense mini tournament called The Gauntlet to determine the third team to go to Worlds. Despite being considered underdogs, C9 fought their way through the tournament, beating every team ahead of them.
The final opponent in The Gauntlet was Team Liquid, a tough team to beat. But C9 pulled off an incredible feat and won, securing their spot at Worlds.
Preparing for Worlds
C9 played 14 games in under 2 weeks to prove themselves ready for Worlds. They worked overtime to study each team and come up with strategies. With the help of Hai and LemonNation, who constantly devised pick/ban scenarios, C9 was well-prepared for the world stage.
The Road Ahead
C9’s journey is only going to become more challenging as they face the best teams from around the world at Worlds 2015. It may prove more difficult than previous years for North America’s third seed.
#C9WIN
Follow Cloud 9 on Twitter.
For more information on Worlds 2015, you can follow this link.
Cloud 9, Worlds 2015, League of Legends, esports