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S P O R T S _________ _
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Cloud9 reaches for the sky
THE UNDERDOG TEAM PROVES NORTH AMERICA’S BEST HOPE FOR A LEAGUE OF LEGENDS WORLD’S TITLE
BY IAN VAN ORDEN
ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR
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The League o f Legends World Championship
is in full swing. The largest League e-sports
tournament held each year, World’s offers a
chance for the best team s from around the
globe to compete for the top spot. One team
in particular has stood out this year due to the
journey they have undergone to reach their
current position.
W ith the introduction o f franchising to the
North American League Championship Series,
or the N A LCS, at the beginning of this year
many teams sought torefresh their rosters to
form teams that would prove stronger than
those found in the league the previous year.
Only two teams survived the off season mostly
intact. One o f these was Cloudy
W ith only two roster changes, in their top
lane and jungle positions, they came into the
spring split with a vengeance, not suffering
from thelackof synergy fourid within many of
thenewly formed so called super-teams. With
the veteran talent o f their returning lineup
paired with the talents of former Team Solo
M idjungleDerinis'Svenskeren’ Johnsenand
rookie top lane Eric ‘licorice’ Ritchie, Cloud9
instantly established themselves as one of the
League’s m ost promising teams.
They faltered during the latter half of the
Split, and though they managed to qualify for
playoffs, they were quickly defeated by Team
Liquid who would take first in a 3-0 victory
over 100 Thieves in die finals.
In a controversial m ove com ing into the
summer split, Cloud9 CEO Jack Etienne and
head coach Bok ‘Reapered’ H an-gyu chose
to bench the three core members o f Cloud9,
Nicolaj ‘Jen sen ’ Jen sen , Zachary ‘Sneaky’
Scuderi and Andy ‘Smoothie’ Ta, in favor of
promoting their academy players .
“We wanted to put together thebest possible
team for our week 1 stage,” said Etienne in a
video posted to the team ’s YouTube channel,
“ th ese players ate our best players to put on
stage. They are performingbetter than our old
roster was, and they’ve put in the hard work
and effort to get to where they are, and they’ve
earned their spot to play this weekend. ”
. The change did not inspire confidence
am ong fans, as the roster fell to tenth and
Last place during week 3 with a record o f 1-5.
W eeks four and five saw the return o f the
team ’s primary m em bers w hich began an
incredible oomebackforthe squad. From week
six on, the team did not drop a single game,
finishing the season 11-7 in second place,
earning themselves abye into the Semifinals
o f the Sum mer Playoffs.
M uch o f their success was Credited to the
Clackamas P r in t ---------- I---------------------
Cloud9 stands victorious after their 3-0 win over Afreeca Freecs on Oct. 21 in Busan, South Korea. This victory marks the
first time a North American team has made it to the World Championship Semifinals since 2011. It is also marks the first
year that Korea will not be represented in the World’s Semifinals since the region was invited to compete.
developm ent o f their roster. Rather than
running a five -m a n team that consistently
played, they developed a seven-m an team.
Taking advantage o f a newfound synergy
between Jensen and Academy jungle Robert
‘Blaber’ Huang, affectionately referred to as
the “ smol-bros” aswell as between Johnsen
and Academy mid lane Greyson ‘Goldenglue’
Gilmer, referred to as the “ swol-bros,” Cloudy
m ade a n am e for them selves b y taking
advantage o f their incredible rookie talent.
W ith the addition of Tristan ‘Zeyzal’ Stidam
to their roster raplacing Ta in the support
position, their team was complete.
During the playoffs, Cloud9 was pitched
against longtime rivals Team Solo Mid, the
winningest team in North America. The series
w ent to five gam es, each team struggling
bitterly to claim the cherished spot in finals.
Eventually, Cloud9 emerged victorious.
The series was specifically meaningful for
Johnsen, w ho had played for Team Solo Mid
the previous year.
“ [The game] was definitely im portant,”
said Johnsen in a post-game interview. “ Both
that it was against TSM and it was m e back in
playoffs again. Since I got subbed out during
the regular split I just took a lot o f tim e to
improve m y individual skill. In academy I had
a lot o f time to play for m yself.” ”
Unfortunately, Cloud9’s playoff dreams
ended in the finals when they were defeated
0-3 by Team Liquid once more. Their miracle
run from ten th place did earn th em the
opportunity to compete to e a m a spot in the
World Championship. However, in order to
claim that spot, they had to defeat Team Solo
Mid one last time.
This gam e ended m uch more decisively
than their sem i-finals m atch, with Cloud9
smashing’Team Solo Mid in a 3-0 victory.
The journey through the initial stages o f
World’s was difficult for CIoud9?Though they
went 4-0 in the initial play-in stage of worlds,
the games were closer than fans would have
liked. The story was the same during the play-
in kriockoiits when they were pitted against
Gambit Esports in their first best o f five bn
the world’s stage. They nonetheless emerged
victorious in a 3-2 victory, but then tragedy
struck.
Seeded into the so called “ group o f death”
during the group stage, they were forced to
overcome both RoyalNeverGive Up, aChinese
competitor and one o f the favorites to take
the entire tournam ent, as w ell as G e n .G ,
the rebranded victors o f the 2017 W orid
Championship. The first days of groups looked
grim for Cloud9 as they dropped gam es to
both teams.
As they prepared for thelast day o f groups,
where each team would face each other one
th e c la c k a m a s p rin t.c o m
last tim e, however, Cloudp seemed to find
new life. In a miraculous run they not only
defeated both o f their rivals but forced a tie
breaker w ith Royal Never Give Up for first
place in their group. Though they lost the
tie breaker, their run to second place earned
them a spot in the final portion o f Worlds, the
Knockout Stage.
In a historic fight for a spot in the World’s
Semifinals, Cloud9 defeated the final Korean
representatives Afreeca Freecs in a 3-0 sweep,
Claiming that Semifinals spot, something a
North American team had not been able to
accomplish for seven years.
“ For next year it’s going to be so hype for
the W est,” said Joh n sen in a p ost-gam e
interview after their victory against Afreeca
Freecs, “ because every time in the past all the
western teams were just like it doesn’t matter
what we do because Korea’s just going to win
so we m ight as well not try hard. But seeing
the west go So far in World’s I think is going
to motivate the whole west to do a lot better
for next World’s. Even if we don’t win the next
one I’m just excited to be here and make the
west have more hope. ”
N ow , the only question that rem ains is
w hether or n ot Cloud9 can achieve even
greater heights this year. Only one more team
stands between them and North America’s
first ever appearance in the World’s finals.
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October 24, 2018