Year in review: A total rebuild for Cloud9
We're coming to the end of 2024 now, so we thought it would be a good idea to turn back the clock and look back on the years of all the BLAST Premier teams.
Next up is Cloud9, the North American organisation that now finds itself home to players from Israel, Russia, and Kazakhstan.
They didn't begin the year with those players though, so let's take a look at how Cloud9 managed to pull off a massive rebuild in 2024.
The first season
Still reeling from the departure of sh1ro to Team Spirit, Cloud9 began 2024 with the AWP-less lineup of Perfecto, Boombl4, electroNic, Ax1Le, and HObbit.
A clear issue when they came up against teams with a strong AWPer, despite an early exit from IEM Katowice, their system and rifle firepower was still enough for them to reach the top eight at the PGL Major Copenhagen, where they lost 2-0 to Vitality in the quarter-finals.
Despite that strong result, Cloud9 soon rocked the CS world with a roster change. Although, it wasn't one that benefited them.
In a move absolutely no one expected, electroNic left the team to join Virtus.pro, beginning a chain reaction of roster moves that would result in Cloud9 needing to completely rebuild their roster.
As Cloud9 then struggled at IEM Chengdu, the next two dominoes fell. Both HObbit and Perfecto were benched, leaving the team without key portions of it's rifle firepower.
Unable to compete for the remainder of the season, Cloud9 weren't seen again until August, where they debuted a new roster with two new faces and a very familiar one.
Photo: Stephanie LindgrenThe second season
Cloud9's rebuild was met with a mixed reception. Fans and analysts viewed interz' return to the team as unambitious, given why his first stint ended, but the arrivals of HeavyGod and ICY were seen as promising due the the year each player had enjoyed so far.
Unlike the previous roster, the new Cloud9 actually had an AWPer, as well as a younger star in HeavyGod. Boombl4 could now focus on IGLing, and although the team wasn't as enticing on paper, there was hope that the Major-winning IGL would be able to turn them into a competitive team.
However, as is the case for many teams that slip down the rankings, climbing can be difficult. Tasked with battling through the gauntlets that are online qualifiers, LANs can be hard to come by, and the only tier one LAN Cloud9 were seen at in the second half of the year was BLAST Premier Fall Groups, where they exited in last place.
Their online results were also uninspiring, but these results were often put down to the nature of online play and the short time the roster had spent together.
Photo: Stephanie LindgrenRegardless, Cloud9 managed to qualify for the Perfect World Shanghai Major RMR, and it was there that they capped off their year with a glimmer of hope for 2025.
Given that they had struggled online, there was little anticipation for Cloud9 heading into the RMR.
Viewed as being on the top end of the bottom eight teams in the group, expectations were low for them to qualify, but they did so with wins over Nemiga, Sangal, and SINNERS.
Unfortunately, the Opening Stage didn't go as well for Cloud9 as the RMR. They exited the competition with a 1-3 record after losses against Liquid, paiN, and Complexity.
Despite that early exit, Cloud9 will still be happy with the fact that they made it to the Major. Very few expected them to given their online results, and it will push them closer to the top 32 in Valve's Global Rankings, giving them far better opportunities to make more LANs in 2025.