Power Rankings #6 -- Cloud9
Riot··0 votes·23,032 views
Cloud9
Region: North America
Top: Balls
Jungle: Meteos
Mid: Hai
ADC: Sneaky
Support: LemonNation
If there’s one rock-solid squad in the LCS, it’s Cloud9. With a roster unchanged since their introduction to the league way back in spring of 2013, their success serves to prove the old adage: “Don’t fix what ain’t broken.”
Since Cloud9’s inception, they’ve found success through unified team play and near-perfect shot calling from mid laner Hai "Hai" Du Lam. A true team, there isn’t a single standout star carrying games. As such, they don’t focus on getting one carry going.
That doesn’t mean they don’t have any star potential on the team, however. Top laner An "Balls" Le is not only an extremely proficient mechanical player, his Rumble is feared the world over. It certainly doesn’t hurt that the Mechanized Menace has become a priority pick in recent months.
Meanwhile, William "Meteos" Hartman holds down the jungle. One of the best farming-style junglers in the world, Meteos is known for his amazing ability to attain tons of gold from jungle monsters while keeping up pressure on his lanes. He might disappear for extended periods of time, but enemies are always fearful of his ganks. And once he reappears, you can bet he’ll have farmed up the items he needs.
Way down south there’s the bottom lane duo of Zachary "Sneaky" Scuderi and Daerek "LemonNation" Hart. Cloud9's bot lane has long been regarded as solid -- not standout, but certainly reliable. During the final months of the 2014 Season, however, Sneaky showed that he’s more than capable of being the carry his team needs in the late game.
Finally, there’s Hai. The owner of an incredible strategic mind, he’s the preeminent shot-caller in the North American LCS. Sure, he might not win every lane, and his champion pool is limited to just a handful of burst mages and assassins, but his voice is the one you’ll hear when Cloud9 is making one of their patented rotations or Baron calls.
With two North American split championships under their belt and a visit to the quarterfinals of the 2015 World Championship tournament, nothing -- besides, occasionally, TSM -- looks like it can slow down Cloud9.
Who will be next on our Pre-Season Power Rankings? Check out the rest of the Power Rankings and stay tuned for more each day as we countdown to the start of the 2015 LCS Season.
[Editor's note] Cloud9 has won two split championships, not three. That has been fixed.
{{summoner:9}} 
> C9 
