All Star Preview - Cloud 9 - America's Best Bet

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Cloud 9 is a team unlike any team North America has ever seen before. Their unprecedented LCS run has been a result of their superior teamplay - something NA has lacked in recent years. They have never lost an LCS playoff game, and have taken first place in the LCS regular season back to back. If a North American team could have a chance at breaking another international powerhouse, it would be Cloud 9.

However, just when Cloud 9 seemed at their peak, disaster struck. The team’s mid-laner, Hai ‘Hai’ Lam, who is also one of the team’s primary shot-callers, suffered from a collapsed lung. Now, CLG’s mid Austin ‘LiNK’ Shin will take his place. It’s unknown how this will pan out once they load onto Summoner’s Rift in Paris, but this is the absolute best of a worst-case scenario. LiNK is the clear choice in terms of mechanical skill and raw talent from North America. Similar to Hai, he also acts as a primary shotcaller on CLG. Considering Cloud 9 and CLG have similar play styles (though Cloud 9 is able to execute correctly more often), this may a perfect fit.

Unproven Internationally

Not only have Cloud 9 not proven themselves as an international threat, they just haven’t had as many chances as other North American teams. Riot’s World Championship format ended up with us seeing Cloud 9 knocked out of the tournament after one best-of-three versus Fnatic. Following that, the North American hopefuls were knocked out of a tournament after one single best-of-three, but this time by Gambit Gaming. Meteos and crew were able to even the score versus Fnatic at Battle of the Atlantic, but the European band of brothers took another match in their favor at the IEM World Championship. Even though the team isn’t playing with their full line-up, this tournament will still be an indication of how the World Championships will pan out later this year.

The Pieces of the Puzzle

Cloud 9 may not have the single best player in each role, with the exception of Meteos - their coordination and teamwork wins them games. Let’s look at each piece that is needed to make Cloud 9 the best team in North America back to back.

An ‘Balls’ Le - King of Consistency

While he may be a more introverted person, Balls takes no prisoners in the top lane. Even in a meta where top laners are secluded to their own island, forced to farm until the mid game, Balls will still make plays that affect the entire map. One of his biggest challenges will be Fnatic’s Soaz, who you can safely say is the most experienced top laner in the West.

William ‘Meteos’ Hartman - The KDA Kid

Meteos rocked the NA jungle meta when he entered the LCS last split. His style of farming up, taking the second blue buff and only making guaranteed risks was unheard of. But it worked. Now Meteos has broken away from a one-dimensional style of play and has become a master of map control. He almost reminds me of KaKAO, who will mindgame the other jungler into submission. Meteos has recently received quite a bit of recognition in places like the Korean scene, so it will be interesting to see how he fares versus whoever SKT K fronts for the tournament.

Austin ‘Link’ Shin - The Secret Weapon

In their time of need, Cloud 9 couldn’t have found a better player than LiNK to fill Hai’s spot. In fact, you may even argue that LiNK could be a potential upgrade for the team. As I mentioned previously, Link’s role as a shotcaller will help fill a missing element that Hai fulfilled so well. Praised as second only to Bjgersen, LiNK versus Faker will be an extremely interesting matchup.

Zachary ‘Sneaky’ Scuderi - Underrated and Overpowered

Up until recently, Sneaky has consistently been underrated as a AD carry. Some seem to forget how clutch he was last split, drawing Ashe bans for his jaw-dropping ultimates. Sneaky is just as good as WildTurtle or Doublelift, whether fans want to admit it or not.

Derek ‘LemonNation’ Hartman - The Man Behind the Machine

LemonNation will be worth his weight in gold at All Stars. From what I can tell, he plays a major role in the team’s pick/ban phase, as well as research of other teams. As you might have guessed, this is extremely valuable in an international tournament. LemonNation doesn't match Xpecial in terms of laning and abillity to land skillshots, but he makes up for it in map pressure and objective control.

On The Whole

While Cloud 9 may undoubtedly be the best team in North America, it’s unknown how they will hold up in an international tournament this time around. Looking past Hai’s medical issues, the team has everything they need to succeed - they just have to put it all on the rift.

Image Credit: Riot Games, Counter Logic Gaming