The North American organization Cloud9 has announced that they’re leaving the Dota 2 scene once again.
Cloud9 came back with high hopes
Cloud9 returned to Dota 2 on March 3, 2020. This wasn’t the organization’s first rodeo with the popular MOBA as they’ve had three teams before that. Most of the time, C9 aimed to make it to the biggest event – The International. Many expected this time would be no different but the team had some rough times in the few tournaments it attended. The roster consisted of:
- Jacky "EternaLEnVy" Mao
- Marcus "Ace" Hoelgaard
- Jingjun "Sneyking" Wu
- Rasmus "MISERY" Filipsen
- Johan "pieliedie" Åström
While all of the players were very experienced, the team didn’t have any history of playing together except maybe for Envy and pieliedie. On the other hand, every single one of the players has played for C9 in the past.
Hope isn't everything
Unfortunately, team had a series of disappointing results with their best placement being 3-4th in WeSave! Charity Play North America and that’s due to the fact there were a total of 4 teams participating in the region.
Cloud9 failed to qualify for ESL One Los Angeles Online, took sixth place out of the six teams in DOTA Summit 12 and 5-6th in the BTS Pro Series. In the latter, they managed to win a game versus Evil Geniuses, so you could say it was the team’s grand achievement. Still, it was clear from the start that this squad wasn’t working out and many fans hoped that roster changes were coming. Instead, the NA org decided to withdraw from the popular MOBA.
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Today Cloud9 steps back from Dota 2.We thank all members of the team for their efforts as part of #C9DOTA and wish them the best of luck! Read More: https://t.co/T4c4oSxZ7m pic.twitter.com/8pbMDM0MvI
— Cloud9 (@Cloud9) April 28, 2020
Cloud9 Team Manager Ysabel Noukky Müller commented:
It was great working with these players and I want to thank them for being professional throughout and buying into our vision and company values. We’re confident that success will follow them as their careers progress."
With the coronavirus pandemic still causing restrictions all around the world, the fate of many esports events is unclear. C9 no doubt wanted to make it to The International but will the event even exist this year? It’s a logical move from the organization’s perspective and the fact that their roster wasn’t working meant they had to put in extra effort for something uncertain.
The five players are now all back to being free agents and we’ll surely hear soon of their new teams. Stay tuned for more Dota 2 news.
