Mentioned in this article Teams: Cloud9

The current LCS offseason is a wild ride. While Europe faces an exodus of star players, North American organizations are digging deep into their pockets to purchase them. Riot’s changes to the Challenger Series have also created some drama, when they added regional seeds, among other changes. And then, there’s the trend of major teams being bought out. In addition to this, new challengers are on the rise. And among them, the ambitious team known only as Ember.

Ember, who just finalized its purchase of the former Cloud9 Tempest slot, told us that they’re aggressively seeking to professionalize the North American Challenger scene. “We’re planning on changing the NACS scene by treating it just like the NA LCS,” says Bao Lam, general manager of Ember and older brother of Cloud9’s famous shot caller Hai Du Lam.

Ember will compete in the NACS 2016 Spring Split. The team is owned by aforementioned Lam as well as Jonathan Pan, both former employees at Riot Games. Lam worked as a recruiter while Pan acted as a product manager for the gaming giant.

Owning and managing a team has always been a dream of both. “I knew that I wanted to be a part of esports after witnessing the explosive growth of it firsthand at Riot, especially after attending Season 3 and 4 World Championships,” says Pan. “While I felt great about the business and life coach-side of team ownership, I felt weak on the game side. Which is why I thought of Bao,” Pan adds, praising his co-owner for his knowledge and insight.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]The new organization aims for nothing less than to change the face of the NACS.[/perfectpullquote]

“In a world of short average career spans for esports players, they are incentivized to go for the largest offer. We aspire to be an organization that builds a sustainable business for years to come. We want people to join our organization, whether they are staff or players, to emerge as better people,” elaborates Pan as what he describes as a “players first” mentality. Ember wants to elevate the level of infrastructure, coaching and resources that go into a Challenger team, and thus improve the scene in general. Other than incorrectly stated by theScore eSports, the new organization did not win a bid for an LCS spot at all but focused on a Challenger team right from the start.

Regarding their roster choice, Lam explains: “C9T has always been a talented roster, they have been so close many times and I think us putting a full organization and infrastructure around them will push them to the next level.” To date the organization has only signed Nicolas “Gleeb” Haddad in the support role, but other than incorrectly stated by theScore eSports the new team will not be built “around him.” Pan explains that “we’re not building the team specifically around Gleeb, we want to build a synergistic team where all the player skills and talents are amplified.” The finalized roster and staff is yet to be announced while the team is still holding tryouts, but Lam is already stating a bright future. “We were buying C9T to rebrand it, build upon its past success, and ultimately create a powerhouse in the NA LCS for a long time.”