The Past, Present and Future of Cloud9

Cloud9 are probably the most skilled groups in CS:GO, having first entered the scene in 2014. There have been loads of ups and downs, and we’re right here to retell your complete Cloud9 CS:GO story.

The Early Days

The early days of the American group had been very a lot “throw every part on the wall and see what sticks,” as they went by varied roster modifications to attempt to change into a challenger. They introduced in gamers like freakazoid, shroud, n0thing, and Skadoodle, however the C9 CS:GO journey was simply starting.

Regardless of signing these nice gamers, they nonetheless struggled to change into one of many best CS:GO teams on the earth. A single iBUYPOWER Cup win over Group Liquid was the spotlight of this Cloud9 CS:GO roster, which struggled to win the necessary tournaments.

One thing needed to change. Between 2016 and 2017, the C9 CS:GO group made a few of its most necessary acquisitions. With the signings of Stewie2K, tarik, and autimatic, Cloud9 had been able to compete.

Main Winners

The glory days of Cloud9. Credit score: ESLCS on Twitter

With the new-look Cloud9 CS:GO roster of Skadoodle, Stewie2k, autimatic, RUSH, and tarik, they started to show doubters into believers. They constructed a behavior of profitable, with DreamHack Open Denver 2017 and iBUYPOWER Masters 2017. Not precisely S-Tier tournaments, however it was nonetheless expertise of getting over the road. With that, ELEAGUE Main Boston 2018 awaited.

The Cloud9 CS:GO crew entered the Boston Main as underdogs. They arrived on the New Challengers Stage as a part of Kraków’s Fallen, alongside the likes of Sprout, Vega Squadron, and Flipsid3 Techniques. They made quick work of it, going 3:0 towards Group Envy, Sprout, and mousesports. The Legends Stage was the place issues started to get a bit of thicker, the place they overcame a 0:2 begin to go 3:2 and qualify for the Playoffs. A single slip-up and the C9 CS:GO Main dream was completed.

The Grand Remaining

Their run to the Grand Remaining was the stuff goals are made from. Each G2 and SK Gaming fell to Cloud9, organising a ultimate match towards the FaZe Clan CS:GO machine. It was all or nothing. The Grand Remaining was a good affair. The groups took a map every, and it went to Inferno because the decider.

What occurred subsequent went down in CS:GO historical past. FaZe had taken them map to map and event level, with the rating 15:14. A FaZe roster stacked with legends, of NiKo, olofmeister, karrigan, GuardiaN, and rain, wanted only a single spherical to etch their names into eternity. FaZe centered their consideration on the B bombsite, the place Stewie2K had been tasked with holding alone with an AWP. With simply 10 seconds left within the spherical, three FaZe gamers sprinted into the bombsite, and Stewie2K took them down one after the other, taking the sequence to extra time. It’s probably the most legendary CS:GO clips of all time, and proved to be a defining second within the match.

FaZe’s psychological was shattered. The Cloud9 CS:GO crew capitalized, profitable the match in extra time. The Cinderella run was full, and Cloud9 had been CS:GO Main champions.

#C9CSGO take the win over @FaZeClan and are the Champions of the New Champions Stage of the #ELEAGUEMajor! #C9WIN pic.twitter.com/j9uV802kF0

— Cloud9 (@Cloud9) January 28, 2018

Sadly, the crew have by no means hit these highs once more. Stewie2K left simply two months after the Main win, and the venture considerably fell aside simply because it actually started.

After a number of years of floating across the scene, it got here to a head in early 2021, when Cloud9 introduced it was leaving CS:GO. Main winners simply years prior, it was an enormous shock. However they’d be again.

Shopping for Gambit

In April 2022, Cloud9 introduced its return to CS:GO with the acquisition of Gambit’s roster. Ax1Le, HObbit, interz, nafany, and sh1ro would all be the most recent gamers to symbolize Cloud9. This was an enormous change for Cloud9 – the group was sometimes NA-focused, and this was a wholly CIS roster.

Nonetheless, it was a call that paid dividends instantly, with an IEM Dallas 2022 victory simply two months after they shaped.

IEM Dallas 2022 was an ideal win for Cloud9. Credit score: Eric Anamalay | © ESL

Sadly, they’ve probably not pushed on from that, although. They lately changed interz with buster, a transfer that was extra of a sideways step than something. They’re nonetheless amongst one of the best groups on the earth, however can’t fairly appear to ever recover from the road. It is going to take a variety of grinding for this Cloud9 CS:GO roster to search out extra success collectively. Can they do it? Solely time will reply that.

If you wish to find out about different CS:GO groups internationally, take a look at our NAVI CS:GO profile for much more!