It may have felt like forever, but Cloud9 are finally back in action. The LCS kicked off this past weekend with it’s second Lock In Tournament. Fans are excited to finally see some NA League of Legends again, even if it’s a less-important preseason tournament. Several teams have opted to field their academy rosters this time around. Some teams chose to field their secondary team to simply give players some LCS experience, while others had to sub in players out of necessity. C9 was one of those teams that were forced to field their academy players thanks to travel restrictions.
[Related: Cloud9 Not Expected to Have Complete Roster for Lock In]
Cloud9 went into Lock In missing their starting top laner Summit, starting bot laner Berserker, starting support Winsome and head coach LS. Missing key pieces to an LCS roster is never a fun time, but Cloud9 appeared to be ready for the challenge. There was some amount of concern about how C9 would perform in this preseason tournament. However the team impressed with some solid, if not a bit boring, games of League of Legends.
The 10-Man Roster Idea Doesn’t Look So Bad
The LCS and its Academy league have had a shaky relationship in the past. Teams weren’t sure how to best utilize the secondary team, and players were often times left to just exist on academy teams. This year however, LS and Cloud9 have made plans to actively involve their academy squad throughout the season.
The experimental strategy aims to field essentially two full squads between the LCS team and the academy team. The two rosters would scrim one another, and allow every player to benefit from the practice. Most notably, LS mentioned in a recent video that Zven would be the one to play in most scrims, leaving K1ng to play in the actual Academy matches. After watching the first three games of Lock In, it certainly looks as though each academy player is very well prepared to face off against the rest of the LCS.
Darshan, Zven and Isles looked very solid in their Lock In performances. Though understandably they should have looked great – the three have been playing at the highest level for several years. But it is important for these players to perform well as it gives a bit more proof that this sort of system can work. By having success, even if it is very early in the year, it does give a bit of credence to the ambitious team structure. If Cloud9 continues to show dominance in Lock In, the rest of the league will have no choice but to take notes.
Fudge Passed His First Trial
Along with a new coach and several new players, fans have been holding their breath for the debut of Fudge, the mid laner. This time last year, Fudge was having a terrible time during his first foray into the LCS. Fudge struggled to separate himself from the rest of the top laners in the league, and ultimately became a bit of a weak point for C9 early on. However by MSI, Fudge became one of the top players in the LCS.
Now moving into a new role, Cloud9 fans wanted to see if Fudge could skip the rough-start portion of his inevitable rise to greatness as a mid laner. Sure enough, Fudge delivered. In three games the new mid laner displayed solid fundamentals and managed to provide the needed pressure that is pivotal for the position. He played familiar champs in Viktor and Jayce, and performed admirably. Through three games Fudge finished with a formidable 16/5/27 scoreline.
Best of all, Fudge is already bringing his patented early-season banter.
Most Importantly, Take These Games with a Grain of Salt
Alright, time for the less fun part. There is no doubting that every player and coach on Cloud9 performed well this past weekend. It was really impressive to see Darshan win lane like the old times, and to see Zven prove that he still belongs on an LCS roster, but ultimately these games don’t really say much about what Cloud9 can do during the regular season. Cloud9 faced off against two academy rosters and one rebuilt FyQuest squad. These teams aren’t the high-level competition that can truly test a roster that is looking to compete internationally.
This isn’t just a fan observation – Blaber mentioned in his post-game interview after facing TSM that the team still needs to keep their focus after a 3-0 week. The upcoming week will be the first real test for the patchwork C9 roster as they take on 100 Thieves.
Then again, Cloud9 also doesn’t have its entire roster. It’s tough to truly see how the team will perform when it’s missing 3 out of the 5 starters. Cloud9 fans can enjoy these wins as there is plenty of good to take away from these early games. Just know that things can change drastically once the preseason ends. Hopefully for Cloud9, it continues to trend upwards for the team.
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Featured image courtesy of Riot Games
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