Cloud9 failed to make Worlds for the second time in the organization’s history after a 3-1 defeat to 100 Thieves. In what could be the final Worlds under the LCS banner, the former “last hope of NA” has to sit on the sidelines.
Berserker spoke to League of Legends journalist Ashley Kang, and the C9 bottom laner explained how Cloud9 missed worlds, why they picked LeBlanc, and more.
“We lost two unloseable games in that series (to FlyQuest). So after that, I think we lost our confidence, and it was like we forgot how to play league.” Losing unlosable games seems to be a common theme for Cloud9. They often get early leads, but falter when it matters most. “I think we had this obsession that we had to do something while we were winning,” Berserker said.
This obsession often led to confusion because, past the early game, the team was apparently a mess. “C9 is at its weakest when all the enemy outer turrets are killed” Berserker added. This was evident in both series. Cloud9 got big leads, but the scaling on the enemy team proved too much, as their mistakes caught up to them.
Despite the loss to FlyQuest, which highlighted Cloud9’s problems, everyone on the team—and the LCS community—was confident they’d take down 100Thieves. According to LCS caster Azael, 96% of fans, casters, and more predicted Cloud9 would win. “We went onto the stage thinking that we wouldn’t lose,” Berserker said.
Cloud9’s drafting also came under severe criticism across the playoffs. In the FlyQuest series, they ran back the same draft repeatedly. Against 100 Thieves, Cloud9 made the game more difficult for themselves. The biggest criticism was the LeBlanc pick in games one and three; in game three particularly, Cloud9 picked Ivern and LeBlanc as the mid-jungle duo, which stunned everyone. Berserker commented that even C9 wasn’t sure about the pick. “We didn’t really like LeBlanc but were like, ‘let’s just try her one more time.’”
When a team as stacked as Cloud9’s fails to reach international competition, change is all but inevitable. Berserker echoed this in his interview, stating: “I’m not really sure if this 5-man roster and the coaching staff will stay the same next year.” We’ll have to wait and see what Cloud9 will do to get back to the top of North America.
