Home » What Could Fans See from Cloud9 Heading into Lock In Week 2?

What Could Fans See from Cloud9 Heading into Lock In Week 2?

Bryan Rockwood

Publish Date: January 22, 2021

The opening weekend of the LCS is in the books. The Lock In Tournament is in full swing, and teams are finding out what is working and what needs to some fixing. For a team as hyped as Cloud9, a 2-1 record is almost disappointing to see. Perkz didn’t dominate like fans were hoping, but luckily the rest of the team picked up the slack for the new superstar mid laner.

With one game left to go in group play, it is almost guaranteed that Cloud9 makes it out to the bracket stage. Cloud9 faces Dignitas as their last group stage match and looks to close out the first portion of the tournament 3-1. But because this early season tournament doesn’t count for Spring standings, now is the time for C9 to try out some more different strategies before the knock out stage. With their last game of group play, here are a few things that Cloud9 could test out before things get too serious.

Funneling More Resources into Fudge

For the first weekend of the LCS, the rookie top laner was left alone on an island in almost each game. Having to play Ornn against Renekton in his first ever LCS match was certainly not the debut Fudge would have hoped for, but it’s the one he got. Cloud9 could continue to adjust their playstyle and try new things in the second week of the Lock In, meaning Fudge could be the big recipient of some extra attention from Blaber and Perkz. By funneling resources and gold into Fudge’s matchup, Cloud9 could see the academy product provide a carry performance similar to what he has done in the past.

Along with probably winning the game overall, lifting up Fudge could do well to boost his confidence playing in the LCS. Realistically it all starts with a draft that favors Fudge, rather than put him in a losing matchup. Against former C9 member Licorice, Fudge held his own in a very 50/50 matchup as Camille against Fiora. It wasn’t as explosive as some viewers would have liked, but this new week and a new matchup means a new opportunity to give Fudge that carry option in the top side of the map. At the very worst, he loses the lane and the team will need to bounce back. At the very best, Fudge demonstrates to the rest of the league why Cloud9 was willing to take a risk on the rookie from the OPL.

Perkz to Take on a Supportive Role

Perkz’s entry into the NA League scene was interesting. In his first match, he was given a true carry mid laner in Yone, notched First Blood in the game, but failed to make any real impact after that. Oftentimes, he was clearing side waves while the rest of the team died in a forced 4v4 fight. Perkz seemed to be on the wrong page of the playbook to open things up. Slowly but surely, he looked better. His Galio match looked much better, but was completely invisible in his Zoe game.

Courtesy of LoL Esports

If Cloud9 want to exert more effort to have Fudge take over a game, then someone needs to take a step back and share their resources. Fans just may see Perkz select one of those more control-centric mages in the mid lane this weekend in order to feed Fudge. It won’t be as fun to see the flashy new signing play a more boring champion, but it is something work exploring from a team play perspective. Who knows, maybe after years of being the carry, a more supportive role could be the new angle Perkz takes to win in NA.

Weird and Experimental Drafts

The most exciting thing about the upcoming weekend is that Cloud9 has the chance to do some more experimental strategies before the knockout stage. Obviously winning against Dignitas ensures their bid into the next round, but now is the time to really try something different. Even now players are still tinkering with build paths on items and messing around with certain runes as they try to find the most optimal configurations. If Cloud9 has been cooking up some spicy compositions, now is the time to see what they can do.