I'm a Cloud 9 fanboy...

Electro522·Feb 6, 2017·5 votes·1,302 views

...and I will happily admit it. However, because of this, I'm also enjoying Flyquest, since 3 of their players are former C9 players.

And they play each other on Sunday.

On paper, it looks like Cloud 9 would just steam roll Fly, because, statistically, every lane of C9's (save for the Jungle......Moon is awesome) is simply better than Fly's.

But as a team, their effectively on par with each other, but I think Fly edges out here due to Hai being a God tier shot caller, whereas C9 doesn't really have a designated shot caller (they all kind of take turns making calls).

In essence, I feel that this will be one hell of a game. Cloud 9 will be better skillfully, but Hai (and, partly, Lemonation) will be able to read them like a book. Champ select may have mind games left and right, and team fights will be long and drawn out.

I don't know who to root for, but it surely is a game I'm looking forward to, and I'm almost certain that this game will be studied hard by every other team in the LCS.

27 Comments

Daggerman28Feb 6, 20173 votes

Alright let's get this going boi's, So i'm also a very huge C9 fan. And i've been fawning over FQ as well so this post is literally my blood speak and im so hyped for the series it's scary. I'm seriously looking forward to watching /literally/ every lane in this game, I'm psyched to see how contractz and Moon will play against each other because of just how damn good they are as junglers. However in terms of "on paper" I would have to say Contractz is the better jungler simply because his KDA is higher and he is pretty damn good at synergising with the rest of his time.

As for the portion of "reading cloud nine" I feel as if that's not true simply because they can't predict which member will be saying what at any given time. And if it's true, then the same goes for Flyquest being able to be read. Sneaky himself said that they scrimm'ed a lot while flyquest was still considered "Cloud 9 White" so both teams already know each other /so well/. And even with Hai's shotcalling I feel like c9 will be able to read that pretty well just from past experience of playing with him. In lane, i honestly don't know who is going to win Hai or Jensen, just because they're both such damn good mid laners.

Bot lane in the meanwhile, im insanely hyped for, probably more than the other lanes just because Lemonnation had been Sneaky's support for so long and I don't know who will have the edge there whether it be sneaky pushing smoothie to counter play them or if lemon will be so aggressive and predictive that c9 will just have to play safe.

Im also really excited for the draft just because I feel like they won't do the standard pick/bans.

Overall, I'm probably rooting for c9, but if FQ wins i'll still be happy.

Electro522Feb 6, 20171 votes

{quoted}

Overall, I'm probably rooting for c9, but if FQ wins i'll still be happy.

Same here, friend. I don't really care who wins, I just want to see the matchup!

SrbLudFeb 6, 20171 votes

On the other hand C9 knows Hais preferences in shot calling and can play around that. Double edged sword but will for sure be a factor.

C9 IMO is really unpredictable right now.

BreakuFeb 6, 20171 votes

I'm not a C9 fan personally, ~~because they switch out their players too frequently. I like teams that do their best to keep their rosters as static as possible.~~

So hopefully Fly gives C9 their first loss.

Electro522Feb 6, 20171 votes

Well, to be fair, C9 only changed one person from last split, that being Meteos in favor for Contractz. Also, C9 is actually known as one of the teams that really try to keep its team together, so they synergize better, and grow together. I mean they kept Balls, Meteos, Hai, Sneaky, and Lemonation together for...what....5 splits or something? And that team had won 2 of the NALCS championships. But I think once Hai started developing some health issues, they realized that these guys may need a bit of break. Sure, Balls, Hai, and Lemon stayed on the C9 challenger team to help train new players, and act as source of income for C9 (they would climb the ranks in the Challenger scene, and sell an LCS spot if they got high enough), but it was nowhere near as a stressful as an environment as the LCS stage is. And look at them now, back with renewed vigor (albeit, under new ownership)!

Teams will be forced to switch out players at some point, either due to players retiring, taking breaks, being pulled to other teams, or contracts expiring. So saying you don't like teams who switch out players is basically saying you don't like any team.

BreakuFeb 6, 20171 votes

Oh, did they only change one player last year? I didn't really follow LCS last year. Maybe I'm thinking of a different team then! My mistake lol.

Electro522Feb 6, 20171 votes

Immortals perhaps? They only have one person on their team from last split.

BreakuFeb 6, 20171 votes

Oh yeah, probably!

Daggerman28Feb 6, 20171 votes

The only difference from them at worlds to them now is contractz in the jungle. And the only team i can think of that hasn't had a hard change is TSM but they lost doublelift and are having a hard time dealing with it.

BreakuFeb 6, 20172 votes

I mean, Turtle is a safe version of Doubelift anyway.

III BAKURYU III Feb 7, 20171 votes

lol, I see what you did there! Upvoted

Electro522Feb 6, 20172 votes

CLG actually kept their entire roster, but, as you can see, it isn't really working out for them.

BreakuFeb 6, 20171 votes

CLG isn't in a bad spot. Their only embarrassing loss was to Team Liquid, and CLG still looks strong in their games. They'll probably be tied with P1 by the end of week4

Hardstuck G4Feb 6, 20171 votes

iirc, C9 was the team that had the same 5 members on it for the longest consecutive time

III BAKURYU III Feb 6, 20171 votes

If C9 allows Balls to play a tank champion then this match up could be even more interesting than it already is.
Balls is no pushover when it comes to top and when playing a tank champion he's in every fight/ play for his team at the right time same thing goes for Impact. We could have 2/3 45+ min games if Balls and Impact both play tank champions. In the past Hai would make plays around the map to help either keep C9 in games or just try to snowball their leads but it could cost him if he does so.
Overall I like FlyQuest and Hai's shotcalling is what legends are made off but I see Cloud 9 winning this 2-0

Daggerman28Feb 6, 20171 votes

"If C9 allows Balls to play a tank champion" I don't think Impact has played a singular top carry all season xD

LinoWidgeFeb 7, 20171 votes

Rumble game 1 vs echo fox

III BAKURYU III Feb 7, 20171 votes

Foreshadowing maybe with the Rumble pick from Impact to Balls ? Balls is 23-8 on Rumble in his whole career international events etc so it will be interesting to see what those two players pick because I think the match up instead of more hyped Jensen vs Hai is really going to be Balls vs Impact as both are very unselfish team focused players that listens to calls and does everything the shotcaller tells them to do.

LinoWidgeFeb 7, 20171 votes

I do agree that I am more interested in the top match up. It is the shotcallers I am most interested in. Can Smoothie out call Hai?

III BAKURYU III Feb 7, 20171 votes

I don't think Smoothie can out shotcall Hai but it's a really hard thing to say or see as it's difficult to actually say "oh was it actually Smoothie's call to do this or that or if C9 beat FQ did Smoothie actually out shotcall Hai it's hard to tell" but I do think Hai has Smoothie beat in that aspect.
FQ can beat C9 with picks in game with roaming but it could and I do see that backfiring to get FQ in some hot water because C9 isn't a team that plays reactionary to the enemy team so even if FQ engages C9 will just turn it around in their favor.

Game 1 FQ really needs to punch C9 in the mouth if they want to have any hope in winning the series. Game 1 C9 wins around the 37 min mark and Game 2 C9 wins around the 33 min mark, winning the series 2-0.

Electro522Feb 6, 20171 votes

That might happen, considering Fly plays around Hai, but Jensen is playing out of his fricken mind right now (I mean, he's actually challenging Bejrgsen for the mid lane crown!). There is no doubt that everyone will agree that Jensen is better than Hai (except when it comes to shot calling), so, due to the amount of trouble that Hai will undoubtedly receive in the mid lane may actually hinder his shot calling.

C9's victory will fall onto Jensen's shoulders, for he will need to make Hai's lane a living hell, whereas I think Fly's victory actually rests in Moon's hands. Statistically, Moon is the only person on Fly who is playing on the same level as his C9 counterpart, Contractz. Since every lane for Fly is against a vastly superior lane (statistically speaking), it'll be up to him to make some breathing room for his team. If he can do that, that might free up Hai to make the right calls.

Both teams make very few mistakes, but capitalize hard on any made by their opponent. That's what this game will ultimately boil down to: who will make the mistake first, and how hard can the other team build a lead off of it?

Like I said, every other LCS team should be looking forward to study every nook and cranny of this matchup, for it will be a good one.

Miror BFeb 6, 20171 votes

For me, this series is gonna be a weird one. While I do expect C9 to "win out", here's why:

-Top lane "should" remain relatively balanced, as although Impact may have a bit more of a skill advantage it'll be heavily neutralized by both of their wants to make TP plays -Mid should also be heavily balanced, as although Jensen has a higher skillcap Hai has a massive edge in that he's been in games where Jensen has started mid (while jensen hasn't played in games where hai has been mid) -Bot again should be heavily neutralized, as not only is it a more "top-half focused meta" but lemon/sneaky should be able to read eachother's plays making it a slow farm lane where each side tries to burn a flash or two -The big "decider" in this series will be Contractz. Moon may be having a good split, but that still doesn't make me have any confidence in him as he is heavily eclipsed in skill (Contractz could've stepped in last split and been a top-2 NA jg while Moon was, ugh) and isn't as reliant on someone else telling him what to do. While Moon might make a few "cool plays", this is a series in which Contractz should get double player of the game honors and be nigh-impossible for flyquest to actively stop.

SciFi ScrivenerFeb 6, 20171 votes

C9 fan, and I agree, happy to see FLY doing so well. Won't be happy for FLY if they beat C9, but would really like to see them face each other in the playoffs. Image C9, FLY, and TSM representing NA at Worlds2017.

Electro522Feb 6, 20172 votes

Its a bit early for that. We still have a split and a half before we get there.

SciFi ScrivenerFeb 7, 20171 votes

Agreed, but a fan can dream.

Walmart PornFeb 7, 20171 votes

My favorite team has been c9 sense season 4, but i do like flyquest too due to it being basically mini c9. Though honestly im enjoying watching FQ more right now because their games are "scrappy" theres more action than just farming and getting objectives then winning 2 teamfights.

xJLx MCHammerFeb 7, 20171 votes

Personally, I think all the C9 current players out perform mechanically and individually every player on Fly Quest. The question is whether or not the synergy is there and shotcalling

It's clear, Flyqueet has better shot calling. Their games are more smoother and faster. However, they have not faced the tough players C9 has faced

I think it will be a good match but I have a feeling C9 will fall to Hai and his shot calls g