A brief history of Cloud9

It takes a certain something special for a team to come up from the Challenger Scene and start breaking records in their inaugural LCS Split.

It’s a well-shaken cocktail of talent, hard-work, unwavering self-belief and pinch of bravado for good measure. In this installment of League of History, we’re going to take a look back at a team that had all of these things in spades.

And his name is....

Cloud9 took the LCS by storm back in 2013 and have been cashing checks and breaking necks ever since. Though if we’re going to talk about the history of Cloud9, we’re going to have to go back further than that. Back to when they were a fledgling team just trying to keep it together under the Quantic Gaming banner.

Started from the bottom

At the time Quantic Gaming was one of the most hyped up Challenger Scene teams vying for a spot in the LCS, and for good reason. Its talented roster would go on to be some of the more respected names in competitive play. Zach "Nien" Malhas at mid, Gabriel "Yazuki" Ng at top, Jason "WildTurtle" Tran at ADC, Daerek "LemonNation" Hart at support, and finally the beating heart of Cloud9 as we know it, Hai “Hai” Lam in the jungle.

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Even though they would become future stars of the LCS, at the time they were still young upstarts hustling their way through the new world of ‘professional’ League of Legends. During the 2013 Spring Qualifiers Quantic (then Cloud9) failed to perform, losing to both Azure Gaming and Team MRN. It was a huge blow that put Cloud9 as we know it on a knife's edge. Yazuki and Nien both left the team and LemonNation and WildTurtle weren’t far off either. Hai, as the captain, was left scrambling to keep everything together.

A fortuitous turn of events saw the arrival of An “Balls” Le, a top lane talent who had also just failed an LCS bid. Balls had a good relationship with WildTurtle, who convinced him to join the team, which in turn convinced LemonNation to stay. This mutual respect put the Cloud9 dream back on the cards. They just needed to find one more member.

During the search Hai decided to switch roles, moving from jungle to mid. Now all they needed was a jungler. A string of failed tryouts led them to subbing Will “Meteos” Hartman in for MLG (Major League Gaming) Dallas 2013. Meteos showed up huge, stealing Baron and carrying games to the point where they had little choice not to pick him up as their starting jungler. With a full roster, Cloud9 were finally ready to take on the world.

And then this happened.

WildTurtle was called up to sub for Team SoloMid’s embattled ADC Chaox, who was benched for behavioral problems. WildTurtle walked away from that game with a Pentakill and a starting spot on the TSM roster. Now Cloud9 was short an ADC and the 2013 Summer Promotion Tournament was right around the corner. They needed to find someone fast, eventually settling on Zachary “Sneaky” Scuderi.

It was with this team that Cloud9 would become one of the most dominant dynasties in North American esports. They would go on to play together for 699 days, the longest period of roster stability in the history of the game, and become one of the most beloved teams in the LCS.

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To say they did well in the promotion tournament was an understatement. They didn’t lose a single game. Not only did they have superior macro play, but they were just individually some of the most talented players in each role. Once they qualified for the LCS Hai spoke to Jack Etienne, the general manager at TSM, who had expressed an interest in owning his own team. Thanks to a buyout clause negotiated by Hai when signing with Quantic Gaming, Jack was able to purchase Hai’s League of Legends team for a meager $15,000.

Welcome to Cloud9

Cloud9 arrived at the 2013 Summer Split like a bomb in a barnyard. There was hype around them, sure. But no one expected them to be that damn good. It was like watching small children play football against Marshawn Lynch. The rest of NA didn’t stand a chance. Not only were their individual mechanics amazing, but their understanding of the game was so far ahead of the curve. Their champion select, objective control, and Hai’s renowned shotcalling helped them obliterate the LCS.

In their inaugural season Cloud9 went 25-3, breaking LCS records and having what was widely regarded as the best LCS Split of all time until 2015 Summer when Fnatic went 18-0. People were buying into the Cloud9 dream. This upstart team from the Challenger Scene was showing fans just how good a North American team could be. They breezed through Summer Playoffs without losing a single game.

Heading into Worlds 2013 Cloud9 were considered North American favorites. They’d destroyed the NA LCS, and now it was time to take on the rest of the world. Being the #1 seed in North America, Cloud9 opened Worlds with a bye that took them straight to the Quarterfinals. It was there they faced European powerhouse Fnatic. Unfortunately, some questionable choices in champion select and an underwhelming performance sent them home early.

It was a disappointing result. Though if Cloud9 let the loss get to them, it obviously didn’t show coming into the 2014 Spring Split. They almost equaled the records they had broken in the previous year, going 24-4 and cementing themselves as the dominate force in North America. Though, in the world of esports, nothing last forever. Cloud9 were about to experience this firsthand.

Out of breath

In the lead up to the 2014 All-Star event, Hai suffered a collapsed lung and had to sit the tournament out to recover. When he returned for the 2014 Summer Split something wasn’t quite right. The team wasn’t performing as well as it had been. Hai in particular was showing a slump in form, but due to recovering from his lung collapse he was given a pass from critics and the community. Cloud9 had what was at the time their ‘worst’ Split, going 18-10 and tying for 1st place with LMQ.

The Summer Playoffs were probably more indicative of their form. Not only would they lose their first Playoffs game, but would lose the entire series, going down to a resurgent TSM in a hard fought Best of 5.

Coming into Worlds 2014 their confidence was slipping. Public opinion against Hai was getting worse and people happily forgot that part of why the team was so successful was his shotcalling. Even so, Cloud9 still managed to be the first NA team to beat a Korean team at Worlds, when they beat Najin White Shield to advance to the Quarterfinals. There, they took on Samsung Blue and convincingly won the first game. Hopes were high. The dream of a NA team in the Semifinals didn’t seem too farfetched. Three losses, that included a 1-10 game from Hai on Zed, put an end to that dream and saw them bow out in the Quarterfinals.

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Spring Split of 2015 rolled around and critics were still vocal on Hai’s performance. Only this time he wasn’t just recovering from a collapsed lung, but from RSI in his wrist. Doctors said there was little they could do for it. The best, and probably only solution was for Hai to stop playing competitively. Coming 2nd to TSM in the Split and losing to them again in the Playoff Finals were the last nails in the coffin. Hai decided to follow the doctor’s advice and retire, ending the longest period of roster stability for any team in LCS history.

To find a new mid lane Cloud9 searched both at home and abroad. Their search led them to a Danish talent, albeit one with a slightly troubled history behind him.

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Nicolaj “IncarnatiOn” Jensen (now simply known as “Jensen”) had been banned from competitive play for toxic behavior in Solo Queue and the prominent use of drop hacks and DDOSing. After being banned from competitive play for over two years, on the 11th of May 2015 Riot announced that he would be unbanned, and within a few days there were already rumors that he was trying out for Cloud9 along with Yusui, the Cloud9 Tempest mid laner.

Despite his past transgression Jensen was still an outstanding player, known for his play on assassin champions like Fizz, Ahri, and Zed. At the end of the tryout period it was announced that he would be the starting mid laner for Cloud9. As a team they were ready to step out into the LCS without Hai for the first time ever.

The results, they’re not good

After winning their opening game against TSM that featured a shaky performance from Jensen, things took a considerable nosedive. The team had seemingly lost all their confidence and had absolutely no sense of direction. A rift between Jensen and Meteos, who was now responsible for the team’s shotcalling, was destroying Cloud9’s morale. Five weeks into the Split their record was 3-7 -- the worst in the history of the organization.

Cloud9 was in crisis mode. After extensive discussions with the rest of the team, Meteos opted to step down from his role as starting jungler. His replacement? None other than Hai, who would take over a role that he hadn’t played since his days at Quantic Gaming.

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With Hai as their starting jungler Cloud9 managed to claw their way out of the Relegation zone, edging out Team8 by a single win. It didn’t happen overnight. In fact, even with Hai on the starting roster, the team still struggled, losing more games than they won. But signs of life were starting to come back. Air was being breathed back into the team and they were resuscitated from the edge of the abyss. The Championship Points they accrued over the course of the Spring and Summer Splits allowed them to limp their way into the Regional Qualifiers for Worlds 2015.

And then something miraculous happened.

A silver lining

Their first series was against Gravity Gaming. When Cloud9 lost the opening two games, everyone had already signed their death warrant. But before the ink had a chance to dry Cloud9 turned the series around. Hai’s legendary shotcalling, coupled with standout performances by Jensen and Sneaky, carried Cloud9 on to reverse sweep the series and beat Gravity Gaming. What’s even more improbable is they did exactly the same thing and reverse swept Team Impulse in their next series, booking a finals showdown against Liquid.

Liquid, who had finished the Summer Split regular season in first place, faltered in the Playoffs. Their star-studded roster still needed to win one more series to book a ticket to Worlds. Unfortunately for them, that series was against a resurgent Cloud9. Having already played 10 games in the gauntlet, the momentum was behind them. Cloud9 would take the series 3-1, a performance which included Sneaky counterpicking Chae “Piglet” Gwang-jin’s Vayne with Draven and Jensen dominating with Viktor.

Cloud9 had qualified for Worlds for the third consecutive year.

World domination

Expectations were low of Cloud9 heading into Worlds 2015. Analysts and fans were critical of Balls’ form. People also questioned Hai’s capability as a jungler against the other top-tier players at Worlds. In the first week of play they silenced the critics. Cloud9 went 3-0 in a week that also included a Balls Pentakill on Darius.

The silence was short lived, however, as in the subsequent weeks of play Cloud9 failed to win a game. They lost all four matches including a tiebreaker against ahq e-Sports Club to finish 3rd in the group. The fairytale was over. It was time to pack up and head back to America to prepare for 2016.

In the offseason, long standing support LemonNation retired from professional play and moved into a coaching position on the team. Cloud9 signed NA LCS 2015 Summer Split MVP jungler Lee “Rush” Yoonjae to take over from Hai, who moved to support in what would be his 3rd role for the team. They also signed Michael “Bunny FuFuu” Kurylo, former support of Gravity Gaming, the idea being that he and Hai would share support duties until Bunny FuFuu is ready to take over the role permanently.

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As of Week 2 in the 2016 Spring Split, Cloud9 are 2-2, winning both games with Hai and losing both with Bunny FuFuu. There were always going to be teething problems with the scenario. Hai has been the heart and soul of the team for so long it makes sense that they would play better with him. Only time will tell if Bunny FuFuu can fill Hai’s shoes. Though, some would argue the shoes are simply too big to fill. This is the newest looking Cloud9 we’ve seen, but they have promise and potential.

Now we just have to see if they have the cohesion to pull it off.

Share your favorite Cloud9 moments and be sure to check out their match against TSM this Saturday on lolesports.com.