Dear Cloud 9, I KNOW you can beat SSG...

Electro522·10/10/2016, 9:51:27 PM·69 votes·4,669 views

...But only if you ban Viktor.

I am wholly convinced that you, Jensen, are a better mid laner than Crown, but only if Crown is not on Viktor. If teams had realized that this team leans so heavily on Viktor, they may not even be in the quarterfinals. This entire matchup lies in the hands of both mid laners, and Crown's performance without Viktor has been......mediocre. Contest the Ryze heavily, force Crown on something he isn't comfortable on, and proceed to roll over him.

Kennen could be a good ban as well. Impact, you perform better on more durable champs, like Gnar or Rumble. Your Kennen hasn't been great, but Cuvee's will be. Its probably best to keep him off of it. Also, you could very well have Gnar in every game you play. Cuvee doesn't seem to priortize it, but you do. Bans will mostly be focused on mid and jungle, so Gnar could slip through quite a bit.

And Meteos.........please..........for all that is holy.........Stay. Off. Lee. Sin. Your Rek'sai has been great, but since Ambition also enjoys Rek'sai, chances are you may not see it much. You actually have a good chance of bringing back Zac, since Elise and Nidalee have been so contested. Just remember that you're not invincible on him.

Sneaky.....this will be rough for you in particular. Ruler also likes Jhin, and his Ezreal, although mediocre, has been better than yours. I suggest going for the Caitlyn possibly, or maybe even bring back Ashe for a game or 2. Jhin may very well slip through every now and then, and I bet you'll take it whenever you can, but don't expect to see him much.

Smoothie.....your the man of the hour right now. You're no Mata, but keep it up with that Alistar, possibly even steal that TK from CoreJJ. We've seen SSG be quite successful with the dual global presence of Rek'sai and TK, so keeping them off of that will be hugely beneficial. If Impact won't be able to find his footing in a game, it'll be up to you to be this team's foundation, and I'm certain you can do it.

It will be rough, and Samsung will fight tooth and nail all the way down to the last hit point on the Nexus. But you have a real chance at beating them, and afterwards, you can take it (relatively) easy against whoever wins ANX vs H2K. Don't give up, and just remember that you can beat Samsung Galaxy.

49 Comments

Kal Vas Flam10/10/2016, 10:10:15 PM11 votes

Remember that while SSG was playing against teams below their caliber, C9 was playing against teams above their caliber, and one of those was SKT. Hopefully that will translate into a better practiced C9 if nothing else. I think they can mechanically compete with SSG all day, but the macro game has me concerned. C9 also has a tendency to rely on meta picks a little too much - some meta picks are fine, but play your strong champs if you can.

PhDs Nuts10/10/2016, 9:55:09 PM11 votes

Thanks, coach.

Lucius BlaZin10/11/2016, 2:04:57 AM6 votes

IF.. C9 is able to beat SSG they will meet up against probably H2K and the way they're playing their last games... C9 will be crushed. Since EDG is way better then C9 in my opinion and even they lost twice that day. Still... C9 is known for their tactical play and H2K still has bad midgames. It still can go either way.

Yordle Xayah10/11/2016, 12:23:05 PM5 votes

I poised SSG to win the whole thing (I mean, look at my icon)

But I'd so much enjoy H2K v C9 in Semis, specially because that'd mean a Western team on Finals for the first time since the Not-So-Much-Worlds Season 1

Fatalitý10/11/2016, 10:40:14 PM3 votes

I'm rooting for NA but Jensen is not better than Crown. Crown is like the 3rd best mid laner in the world behind faker and bjergsen.

Mad Milliner10/11/2016, 7:23:58 AM3 votes

You can do it C9!

EpikFeeder10/11/2016, 5:53:14 AM3 votes

Because OP is better than Cloud 9's coaching staff etc. Only in the forums my friends.

HazyCloud710/11/2016, 8:17:55 AM3 votes

Actually I still think Crown is on par than Jensen on other champions. But the gap between his Viktor and the rest of his champions is absolutely gigantic. When he has Viktor he's on another level.

9kPluzZ10/11/2016, 2:04:06 PM3 votes

LOL dream on! The barely got out of groups and Jensen is bad, did you just say he's better than crown?

I am Spongeboob10/11/2016, 1:48:35 AM3 votes

Let's be honest, SSG only managed to win those two games with Crown's Viktor, two victories that could've been avoided with a smarter P/B. Had the other teams not disrespected it, we would be seeing a very different quarterfinal bracket right now coming out of Group D.

It's not a coincidence that TSM went 18-1 against SSG during week 1. Viktor is to Crown what ASol is to Huhi. God tier champs on mediocre players.

V2msRHouI010/11/2016, 10:28:15 AM2 votes

Cloud 9 are statistically the weakest team in the quarter-finals, and I doubt they even have a chance against SSG.

Lauchmelder10/10/2016, 9:58:23 PM2 votes

Don't think they can make it. My guess is SSG vs ROX in the finals. Naturally the best semifinals would be C9 vs H2K

DestructoDave10/11/2016, 2:32:23 AM2 votes

One of the biggest problems with NA atm is the pick/ban phase and evaluation of their own players strength/weaknesses.

Pick/ban, and in player skills in relation to that pick/ban, is one of the main reasons TSM and CLG didn't make it into Quarterfinals.

Honestly at this point it looks like it'll never get fixed.

I mean why would you opt into the poppy counter matchup of Alistair vs a team you just beat with alistar, when alistar is 11-1 so far at the tournament. Not only that, you pick the harder part of the matchup, and thats the reaction part: ala stopping alistar plays with poppy field. You also give away superior player's best champions, while obviously struggling mechanically on the day. After the game vs ANX, they should have saw they weren't playing at 100%. At that point, you pick easy to play comps and champs with ease of execution.

I dont know, at this point I've gave up expecting good pick/ban/drafts from NA.

JerulEon10/11/2016, 2:37:01 AM2 votes

YEAH We can do it NA!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D

Slappybiscuit10/11/2016, 3:34:56 AM2 votes

I know this has become an unpopular opinion on these boards recently but meteos isnt that bad on lee sin. Both lee sin games everyone complains about, had compositions that made it difficult to do anything early that was made worse by his team performing worse than usual, and he still came through in the end anyway. But i know you guys wont see it that way, you will throw out every other lee sin game he's ever played and judge him by these two games where he didnt have much of a chance.

however i will agree he should stay off lee sin anyway because there are much better junglers right now for him to be on. I would throw nidalee in that category as well.

FableBlaze10/11/2016, 12:15:22 PM2 votes

[{quoted}](name=Paleo Electro,realm=NA,application-id=9hBQwnEU,discussion-id=7GsAXfWy,comment-id=,timestamp=2016-10-10T21:51:27.547+0000)

and afterwards, you can take it (relatively) easy against whoever wins ANX vs H2K.

That seems a bit optimistic. Dont get me wrong, C9 is good and even has a decent chance of making it into finals. But on week 2 H2K was significantly better than C9. And ANX would also stand a good chance against C9.

Camba4ever10/11/2016, 5:43:07 PM2 votes

Amen brother! Thanks for taking the time to articulate what I'm sure many other C9 fans are thinking (I know I was)

༼ つ ◕◕ ༽つ C9 TAKE MY ENERGY ༼ つ ◕◕ ༽つ

MythicalFluff10/13/2016, 5:00:28 PM1 votes

TBH in my opinion,C9 has a very slim chance of over coming SSG. I mean TSM lost to them, and they were one of the most popular teams, especially in the Group Stage. But, This ismt about TSM. My opinion is even is C9 somehow wins they will be eliminated in future play in the tournament, I personally think they are not strong enough to come over SSG. NA is out of the tournament..GLHF to C9 and SSG

wiggywonka10/11/2016, 10:38:47 PM1 votes

this is what everyone said before groups and after week 1 look what happened complete destruction of their group.

Ricketts10/11/2016, 2:02:40 AM1 votes

Don't forget that we've seen pocket picks come out in the knockout stages of teams ban away champs a player used for groups. Could all be a big shell game in groups, hiding your real power pick until it matters.

arc9510/12/2016, 1:10:20 AM1 votes

Dude only one thing needs to happen for C9 to win

get memeos on LeeSin

https://s12.postimg.org/vcyljf6b1/Uw_Vgk_AR.png

AlexanderMagnusI10/13/2016, 12:21:17 PM1 votes

Step 6 baby, Step 6.

KazaLyn Shao10/13/2016, 2:41:34 PM1 votes

If the same SSG shows up today that showed up last week then C9 doesn't have a prayer.

CYÆGHA10/11/2016, 5:13:30 PM1 votes

Aatrox Nami Xerath > Everything