This wasn’t Cloud9 finally becoming a LAN team

Before IEM Dallas started, we all knew it was going to have an asterisk on it, no matter who won it.

If FaZe won it, it’d have been “well who cares, nobody else was there, everyone had stand-ins and it was basically a B tier event”; so why are we pretending otherwise for Cloud9?

If anything, it should be offensive to them to claim this was their online form.

Still so much further to go

Cloud9 were THE best team online. No ifs, no buts, they smashed everyone over and over again. It didn’t matter if you were at full strength, on a roll and got your best maps – they steamrolled you.

That was yet to happen on LAN; a combination of their dry aggression, nerves and a return to form of other great teams had led to them falling off. However, people had been desperate to see this team be just as dominant on LAN, so it makes sense that they’d jump on the first sign of success.

But I’m here to be fair.

Cloud9 beat FaZe one event after winning the Major – every team bar NaVi has failed at their next event after winning a Major – BIG, and ENCE with a stand-in on stage. It’s impressive, but it’s not… that impressive.

While them winning might lead to them becoming more confident, there’s still a way ’til I’m ready to call this the online version of this team.

I have a feeling I won’t be convincing this guy.

While Ax1le’s ludicrous form and sh1ro’s consistent impact are important and essential to this team’s success, nobody’s performance ties in with wins more than that of IGL nafany.

When nafany frags, this team is completely different; and he was able to get the better of some of the weakened rosters at the event. That’s great!

But is it sustainable? Only time will tell, and it’s definitely a good sign that he’s finally found some form on LAN, but rarely can a player keep up superb numbers while calling.

Would an on-form FaZe, a full strength ENCE and a present NaVi let that happen? I’m not so sure, and if nafany can’t frag we’ll get to see that sh1ro that saves every round and lives in his shell all over again.

If FaZe won it, it’d have been “well who cares, nobody else was there, everyone had stand-ins and it was basically a B tier event”; so why are we pretending otherwise for Cloud9?

While I don’t want to rain on their parade just because it was a weakened event… it was, after all, a weakened event. You can only beat what’s in front of you, but I can only judge on the games you play.

Maybe this is the springboard that Cloud9 use to finally become the best team in the world without the asterisk of online. But by itself, this event is just another asterisked one that doesn’t mean the team is legendary just yet.

This could just be a false dawn; like Dignitas at ELEAGUE or MOUZ in New York. That’s my gut feeling.