The search for Cloud9
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When Cloud9 forced Team SoloMid to surrender in the first week of the 2013 Summer Split, smiles beamed across every players’ face. You could hear the laughter as they collected themselves. And as they walked past the camera to shake their opponents’ hands, their good spirits would speak volumes of their eventual 25-3 season.
This was a team that -- true to their namesake -- got along, had fun, and won.
But when remembering the relaxed joy of Cloud9, the dejected faces and quiet demeanor of the players after losing to the LMS’ yoe Flash Wolves at IEM Katowice sticks out and paints a picture of the team’s problems this season.
If they weren’t known for the Ashe/Zyra bot lane, they were known for their team fighting composition in Zac, Kennen, and -- if all the stars aligned -- Rumble. Often, to avoid being run over by Cloud9’s superior team coordination, teams would only allow them two of the three.
With the meta shining favorably on Kennen and Rumble again, it’s possible Zac finds a place as well in Patch 5.6. With Rek’Sai and Nidalee receiving consistent bans, the jungle pool on 5.4 saw an increased priority on Vi, Lee Sin -- and for some LCS junglers, including Meteos -- Sejuani. So on a patch that buffs many of the old tank junglers, there’s reason to believe Meteos could try his hand at the tank junglers who excel in team fights, especially after Fnatic has found success with Zac in particular against ROCCAT in Week 8 of the European LCS.
“I think that the tank meta will help us because it opens up more initiation junglers that scale slightly better than early game junglers. We've had success in the past playing initiation junglers in the past such as zac so it should be a nice change of pace,” said Meteos.
He continued, “I think that Zac is in a much better spot now than before. His early game isn't as strong as some other champions but he scales well and he's really good in team fights. I think that the nerf that made his blobs fall really far away from himself when he's around other champions makes him a bit awkward to play but aside from that he's strong."
It’s been awhile since Meteos has taken up Zac, and the champion has seen better days. But it stands to fact that Meteos on Zac was simply unkillable, earning the highest KDA in the NA LCS in his rookie split.
At a time when skirmishes were tight and macro play was rare, Meteos’ farm-heavy playstyle on champions like Zac and Nasus contributed heavily to Cloud9’s wins. Often an entire item and level up on the enemy jungler, Meteos game plan was simple: farm, fight, and repeat.
With the Cinderhulk enchantment making that plan even easier, the Cloud9 jungler is presented with a chance to bring back the newly buffed Zac or any of the other tank junglers finding increased strength on patch 5.6, including Sejuani.
As a team, the tank jungler might be C9’s way to try and find their team fight groove again. Coordination is practiced and learned, of course. But when it was in such devastating form before, is it forgotten?
Present Woes and Past Joys
Cloud9 opened their match against the yoe Flash Wolves like you’d come to expect from the team -- especially William “Meteos” Hartman. Farmed and even more fed, Meteos on Rek’Sai was able to pressure the entire map, earning an early map advantage and gold lead for his team. The game looked all but in the bag for Cloud9 if they played their same strategic, map pressure oriented play that lead them to so much domestic success in their first two seasons. But then Cloud9 started forcing uncoordinated team fights, and the Flash Wolves were able to react to Cloud9’s mistakes. They played around An “Balls” Le’s Mega Gnar, and they turned on Cloud9 after Hai “Hai” Lam’s less than stellar Lissandra engages. When yoe Flash Wolves finally destroyed Cloud9’s Nexus, it appeared that the team wasn’t able to escape their recent domestic troubles, even on the international scene. Cloud 9’s dip in team fighting form looked as compromised as their decision making. They made uncharacteristic misplays, none worse than their decision making against the GE Tigers the day before. Cloud9 -- if not known for their strategic shot calling -- was known for their impressive team fight coordination where one particular team fight could seal a victory for the team. In their first match against TSM in the 2013 Summer Split, it was one, decisive, late-game team fight engaged by Meteos and Hai that allowed Cloud9 to beat TSM in what was otherwise a fairly even game. And in the last game of the 2013 Summer Split against TSM again, Cloud9’s coordination was even more deadly. By this time, Meteos’ farm-heavy playstyle was well-known. Throughout the split, he would amass insurmountable farm leads on his rival junglers, often times nearly as farmed as the solo laners. In that final TSM match, Meteos was able to snowball his large farm lead over Brian “TheOddOne” Wylie on the back of one good engage. But at IEM, they botched plays they would’ve executed flawlessly in the past. Against the GE Tigers and Yoe Flash Wolves that team fight prowess disappeared. Altogether, Cloud9 was a shell of their former coordinated selves.A New Hope on Patch 5.6
With the changes in Patch 5.6 to tank junglers and the addition of the Cinderhulk enchant, it’s important to consider Cloud9’s bread and butter team composition as a potential solution to their current team woes.
If they weren’t known for the Ashe/Zyra bot lane, they were known for their team fighting composition in Zac, Kennen, and -- if all the stars aligned -- Rumble. Often, to avoid being run over by Cloud9’s superior team coordination, teams would only allow them two of the three.
With the meta shining favorably on Kennen and Rumble again, it’s possible Zac finds a place as well in Patch 5.6. With Rek’Sai and Nidalee receiving consistent bans, the jungle pool on 5.4 saw an increased priority on Vi, Lee Sin -- and for some LCS junglers, including Meteos -- Sejuani. So on a patch that buffs many of the old tank junglers, there’s reason to believe Meteos could try his hand at the tank junglers who excel in team fights, especially after Fnatic has found success with Zac in particular against ROCCAT in Week 8 of the European LCS.
“I think that the tank meta will help us because it opens up more initiation junglers that scale slightly better than early game junglers. We've had success in the past playing initiation junglers in the past such as zac so it should be a nice change of pace,” said Meteos.
He continued, “I think that Zac is in a much better spot now than before. His early game isn't as strong as some other champions but he scales well and he's really good in team fights. I think that the nerf that made his blobs fall really far away from himself when he's around other champions makes him a bit awkward to play but aside from that he's strong."
It’s been awhile since Meteos has taken up Zac, and the champion has seen better days. But it stands to fact that Meteos on Zac was simply unkillable, earning the highest KDA in the NA LCS in his rookie split.
At a time when skirmishes were tight and macro play was rare, Meteos’ farm-heavy playstyle on champions like Zac and Nasus contributed heavily to Cloud9’s wins. Often an entire item and level up on the enemy jungler, Meteos game plan was simple: farm, fight, and repeat.
With the Cinderhulk enchantment making that plan even easier, the Cloud9 jungler is presented with a chance to bring back the newly buffed Zac or any of the other tank junglers finding increased strength on patch 5.6, including Sejuani.
As a team, the tank jungler might be C9’s way to try and find their team fight groove again. Coordination is practiced and learned, of course. But when it was in such devastating form before, is it forgotten?
he was good back when he could pick the likes of 
and 
but they have been hit way too hard.
