Maniac: "Burdening [electroNic] with IGL duties never made sense"

Cloud9's Russian superteam has failed to live up to expectations so far, but with Boombl4 now at the helm, Maniac thinks that things are on the up.

Still without a tournament victory outside of BLAST Premier Fall Showdown, there's still a long way to go for this team before they will be close to achieving what they originally promised, and Boombl4 allowing players to shine will be key to that.

First, let's look at Ax1Le. Somewhat out of sorts so far in 2023, Ax1Le's numbers were down across the board, and he looked a far cry from the player who was ranked the fourth best in the world by HLTV in 2022.

Photo: Michal Konkol

At Gamers8 he ended the event with a 0.82 HLTV rating, which dropped to a disappointing 0.78 at IEM Sydney. Compare this to Fall Final, his first event with Boombl4, and he had jumped dramatically to 1.08. At BetBoom Dacha, it rose again to 1.14.

Getting Ax1Le back to his peak levels is paramount for Cloud9 if they wish to succeed, especially after the loss of sh1ro, and these are encouraging signs for the future.

But he's not the only rifler who has been revitalised by the arrival of the former-NAVI IGL.

electroNic was one of the best riflers across CS:GO, and a big reason why NAVI were able to enjoy so much success in the later years of the game. Later limited by the fact he had become an in-game leader, his ability to hard carry games seemed all but gone.

Photo: Michal Konkol

That being said, since putting leadership behind him, electroNic has shined as brightly as he ever did. A 1.36 HLTV rating at IEM Sydney was since the RMR event for the IEM Rio Major, and he continued that fine form at Fall Final with a 1.31 HLTV rating.

Considering it had previously looked like electroNic may never be able to be a star again, these numbers are better than we have ever seen from him, and if he can keep them up, then we might be about to see the best version of the Russian star we have ever seen.

However, that doesn't mean Cloud9's success is a foregone conclusion. Without a true AWPer, the team has been seen to struggle somewhat on CT sides, and that does give Maniac some cause for concern.

Often viewed as the most important role in Counter-Strike, having a star AWPer massively improves a team's chances of dominating a game. If you have any doubts over that fact, look at Astralis before they brought back device.

That doesn't mean that success is impossible without an AWPer. Liquid managed to win an Intel Grand Slam without a true AWPer, and cadiaN's Heroic also achieved great things despite cadiaN not being a star in the traditional sense.

The key with both of those teams, however, is the fact that the AWPer was also the IGL.

Photo: Stephanie Lindgren

So far in Boombl4's tenure with Cloud9, both he and HObbit have tried AWPing, and neither has been particularly successful. Expecting greatness would be naive, but the team does require slightly more at the same time.

Despite this, even when Cloud9's AWPers are struggling, the return of Ax1Le and electroNic to star capabilities will keep them dangerous. Both players are capable of having great impact in any stage of a round, and at their peak levels, both would be the star players for any team in the world.

Figuring out exactly which maps suit their new system is of utmost importance to this new Cloud9 team, but in the short-term, it still might bear no weight.

Players in forms such as Ax1Le and electroNics' are hard to stop, and they could easily carry them to the trophy here at World Final.