Cloud9 Cooldown: Initial Reactions From Game 1

Day 1 is in the books for Cloud9, and it could not have gone better. Cloud9 as a whole looked prepared and ready to execute their game plan. Golden Guardians didn’t roll over however. The rookie filled squad battled when they could and took advantage of the small missteps from the vastly more experienced Cloud9 roster. In this new recurring column, the Cloud9 Cooldown looks at the game fresh off of the destroyed nexus.

[Related: Cloud9 Face Off Against Golden Guardians to Start 2021 Spring Season]

Funneling into Fudge Worked, Mostly

Heading into this matchup, the number one concern for everyone watching was how Fudge would bounce back after a brutal series against TL. Fudge had a rough time against Alphari even with a counterpick in game 5 and fans were worried that the rookie top laner could be a liability for the team as a whole. Well, it looked like the Cloud9 coaching staff saw something similar, as the draft and the team composition aimed to give Fudge all the help he could want. A favorable lane matchup as Jax into Camille and two early ganks from Blaber made sure that Fudge built a massive advantage over Niles.

The only problem was how Fudge played directly after the successful ganks. Twice as Cloud9 reset and set up for the next objective, Fudge found himself on the wrong side of an Iconic counter-attack. Luckily Niles was not the recipient of the kill gold, but Iconic slowly grew into an issue after both ganks.

Courtesy of LoL Esports

Fortunately for Cloud9, the early game funneling of resources paid off as the game hit the twenty-minute mark. Fudge was pivotal to winning skirmishes at dragon, coming through on flanks to focus down Stixxay. He often took 1v1’s against the enemy Camille in the side lane to prevent her from catching back up. There is no doubt that his teamfighting is strong, it is still laning phase that Cloud9 needs to watch as Fudge develops.

Blaber Actually Won a Smite Fight

If there was one knock on Blaber through the Lock In tournament, it was his inconsistency during a smite fight. Against TSM, Blaber lost two barons to Spica. Then again against 100 Thieves, Closer was able to get the upper hand over Blaber at dragon a few times. It was becoming a worrying trend as the team moved into the main split. Fast forward to the fight for dragon soul, and the opportunity reared it’s head again – would Blaber lose the objective to Iconic?

Not this time. Blaber made it happen, and in the blink of an eye the Cloud9 roster cleaned up Golden Guardians and closed out the match. As one of the main voices in close dragon fights, it’s important that the jungler is the cool-headed player in those high impact situations. As the season progresses, this will be a point to watch as Blaber aims to cement himself as the premier player in his position.

Cloud9 Look Clean

By far the biggest thing to gain from this game was just how clean and controlled C9 looked as a whole. The macro decisions from the team were methodical and purposeful. Early action in the top lane forced GG’s hand in needing to match the aggression and apply pressure back onto Fudge. This led to the bot lane living on an island and allowing Perkz to roam freely to the next objective before AblazeOlive. Overall, the team looked in-sync and in control.

Courtesy of LoL Esports and Tina Jo

This was the Cloud9 fans were expecting at the start of Lock In. Looking back now, it appears Cloud9 did use the Lock In to limit test. Potentially their sloppy games were due to testing the waters to see what they could get away with? From a quick glance, this Cloud9 team looks legit. Can they continue their momentum into an important match against TSM? Only time will tell if the new-look Cloud9 can remain consistent game to game.

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Featured image courtesy of Riot Games

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