Smoothie is having a blast on Cloud9 © Riot esports

In recent months, the dialogue around Cloud9 has been centered around their shotcalling and their support slot. Hai, the world class shot caller and mid-laner turned jungler turned support, has finally stepped away from the roster to take on the new gig of fostering North American talent and building a Challenger presence. Michael "Bunny FuFuu" Kurylo was the original heir apparent of Hai’s shotcalling legacy, which was why fans were surprised — and a bit confused — by the pickup of a second support: Andy "Smoothie" Ta. Smoothie and Bunny both represent Cloud9's bold new direction of macro-oriented strategy, distributed shotcalling and a rock-solid team that trust each other both on and off of the Rift. I had the chance to talk with Smoothie about C9's current state, the support switch off, and the squad's goals for summer.

Smoothie was in an uncertain state when Cloud9 approached his manager. He had been playing with Team Liquid Academy, when the Challenger org decided to go with Stunt as a support to retain the synergy of the old Ember lineup. "The Cloud9 Challenger team was my first option if possible, because C9 is my favorite org," Smoothie admits about his immediate plans post-Liquid. Instead, he found himself sharing a spot on the starting lineup.

Having six-man (or in some cases, even 10-man) rosters is becoming increasingly common in the LCS, but it doesn’t always work out. Kikis recently left European Champions G2 after being expected to share the top lane with Expect, and Pobelter reportedly left CLG for the Immortals instead of splitting the mid-lane starter spot with HuHi. Smoothie is optimistic about his current role: "I like playing with Bunny a lot, him and I have similar but different strengths. His champion pool is smaller, but he's really good on those champions — I like to branch out and play different stuff. Having both of us brings different strengths to the team."

The support spot brought its own kind of pressure with it: Bunny had been groomed to take over Hai’s position as the team’s shot caller, working closely with Hai. As Cloud9 grew and evolved, so too did its shotcalling, especially with the acquisition of head coach Bok "Reapered" Han-gyu.

"When I first came on the team, I thought Hai's shotcalling was a one man job," Smoothie says, talking about his initial expectations. "As I played with them more, the way they want to play now is not with one person calling all the shots. Everyone voices their opinion, and we make a decision."

Open forum

This is an unorthodox strategy, especially after a period in League history where shot callers and assertive players have been highly discussed, praised and valued. However, there are merits to this democratic approach, especially as Riot adjusts the game to be more team focused. "I like it a lot. [I’ve tried being] the one shot caller a couple of times, and being a big voice in a team works to an extent, but I can’t fill Hai’s role. I don’t think anyone on the team can. The game has so much depth to it now and you don’t know things that everyone knows. The way we play now is more effective; I think it’s more how other teams are going to do it."

The team’s new approach where every player adds their input is especially interesting when you consider the new roster: Impact and Meteos are both legendary players with long histories, and it becomes easy to see how a single shot caller could shut their perspectives out. This becomes important when you consider how Cloud9’s new head coach is reorienting their perspective on the game.

"Reapered fits the team really well, the team all have respect for him," Smoothie says. "He looks at the game at more than micro and mechanics kind of way, he looks at it in a macro sense where map movements matter. Of course a coach can point out fighting here is bad, but we talk about the big picture things — you should have moved here, you should have rotated — the big picture things that really make or break a game, not the random fights that break out. In this season, the last year, it's been turning into macro play being really really important in the game right now."

The team works as a full group — a rarity in LCS © Riot esports

The last few weeks have had some very surprising changes to the support meta as well, and Smoothie has found a strong weapon he’s been breaking out for the majority of his games. "Karma definitely is a strong pick right now. Her strengths are too good not to pick up right now — she's a ranged support who brings utility to a team and she's safe to pick with any team comp." Viewers should be careful to stay on their toes in anticipation of further surprise picks. "With the meta shifting towards toward carry top laners and junglers sometimes, the support meta might change a little bit ... but Karma should still be a good pick. We value her highly based on scrim results."

Of course, Smoothie is willing to move with the meta. "I play whatever the team needs," he admits with a laugh. "I don’t care."

No "I" in team

It’s this attitude that makes him a valuable pickup, along with Bunny in the bot lane. Smoothie is optimistic about the rest of summer: "Our goal is top three at the very least. We’re aiming high, and I’m sure C9 can make top three.”

He sends a final message to the fans watching the new Cloud9 evolve from home: "Keep supporting us, we'll impress you by the end of the split."

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