The boys have hit the ground running after signing for Cloud9. Within the first week they already secured two LAN events. The first was the illustrious IEM Katowice and the second was DreamHack Open Leipzig, which commences this Friday. It will be their debut event under the Cloud9 banner, so they’ll definitely be looking to leave an impression.

The Road So Far

Cloud9 won the NA closed qualifier, claiming the lone spot up for grabs. The qualifier comprised of eight teams, four who earned their spot through the open qualifier and four who were directly invited. Cloud9 received one of the direct invites, along with Complexity, eUnited and Singularity.

Cloud9 had a clean run through the qualifier winning all their matches 2-0. They beat Triumph convincingly in their opening match which set them up against Complexity, their toughest opponent in the qualifier. C9 managed to win both maps 16-14, with Aran ‘Sonic’ Groesbeek going huge. As the scoreline suggests it was a hard fought victory. C9 displayed impressive resilience on the first map completing a comeback after being down 13-8.

That would have given them full confidence to conquer the final hurdle, eUnited. The first map went into overtime where C9 eventually came out on top, 19-16. Heading into their map pick, Inferno, it was their game to lose. They won the map 16-10 and with that qualified for the event.

You can see by their reaction that qualifying for events has become a standard. There’s no crazy animation, it’s become the expectation. It resembles the progress that they’ve made and how their priorities and goals have advanced.

When I asked T.c what the teams goal was at the event, he had this to say:

The Leipzig qualifier was a bit close to the event so we won’t have a bootcamp or a lot of time to adjust to the jet lag seeing that we’ll be arriving, at most, a day before our first match. So all the odds aren’t in our favor and we might not be as well prepared as we usually are, but the goal is still to try and win it.

The Groups and Format

There are eight teams at the event, divided into two groups of four. GSL is the name of the game, meaning everyone’s favourite: double elimination. The opening and winners matches will be best of one while elimination matches will be best of three. This means that two teams at the event will reach the playoffs after winning just two best of ones.

Cloud9 find themselves in a group alongside the favourites Virtus.pro, BIG and Renegades. The other group is made up of local team Sprout and then three Danish teams, MAD Lions, North and Heroic. Both of the groups are fairly balanced, but I think that Cloud9 have better odds of reaching the playoffs from their group based off of the recent roster changes.

The German side BIG have made two changes, swapping out smooya and nex for syrsoN and k1to at the start of the year. Not only that but gob b has returned to the team in the capacity of a coach, replacing LEGIJA. Renegades have also just made a change, they announced two weeks ago that DickStacy had been moved to the bench and Hatz was signed as his replacement.

The Matches

Cloud9 will begin their run in Leipzig against Renegades. Both of these teams love playing Inferno so there’s a really good chance we see that as the map played. C9’s playbook will be a lot deeper considering the recent roster change that Renegades has made, making them the favourites off the bat.

Even outside of the roster changes, C9 has more prowess and firepower to their name. The explosive nature of Sonic and floppy will be difficult for Renegades to contain. If we see the C9 we’ve come to know in recent times, they should come out on top of this one.

Assuming that C9 wins their opening match, they’ll most likely go up against Virtus.pro in the best of one winner’s match. The new VP has been turning heads since their run at the Major, as AVANGAR, where they made it all the way to the Grand Final. According to the betting odds, VP are the favourites to win this event.

VP are a well established team that have been playing together for some time. They are a well structured team, that plays to their strengths. They allow Jame to find picks with the AWP, creating space around the map for the team to exploit. If C9 can deny Jame and unsettle VP’s gameplan an upset is definitely on the cards.

Caution is Advised

If for whatever reason C9 has to play against BIG, I’d recommend that they proceed with caution. This BIG team is scary. With gob b as coach and the addition of two young, hungry heavy hitters in k1to and syrsoN, they’re a force to be reckoned with.

gob b understands the tactical element of the game like no other, that was always his greatest feat. He’ll definitely be studying the other teams in the group in preparation. He’ll ensure that the team plays within itself, not trying anything too expansive or technical. Three months from now German CS may have a serious contender once again.

I think the two teams that will proceed to the playoffs from Group B will be Heroic and MAD Lions. Both of them have had a decent run of form as of late. Especially considering that North and Sprout have also made roster changes recently. Both Heroic and MAD Lions would be tough opposition for C9, but not unbeatable by any stretch.

Conclusion

In the interview I did with their coach, T.c, he mentions they didn’t have enough time for a bootcamp before this event. That means they will probably be using a lot of their strats that they used in the qualifiers making them susceptible to being predictable. It will be a test of Cloud9’s ability to make subtle changes on the fly that throw their opponent off and make them difficult to read.

One of the other big considerations heading into the event is the amount of attention Cloud9 has been receiving over the past few weeks. They certainly won’t be heading to events under the radar anymore. Teams will be paying a lot more attention to them in their preparations, searching for patterns, habits and weaknesses.

It’s going to be interesting to see how they handle the tag of contenders now, as opposed to dark horses. There’s a certain freedom that comes with being the underdog. Having a level of expectation to meet adds pressure that changes the dynamic. It’s a mental element though, there’s nothing different in the server, meaning with a strong willpower it won’t affect them.

There is no team at the event that Cloud9 is incapable of beating. If they play at the top of their potential there is a serious chance that they could walk away with a trophy at their debut event. The tournament features a $100,000 prize pool with the winners taking home $50,000 and the runners up, $20,000. The schedule can be found on HLTV.