by Despite a nightmarishly slow start to the 2022 League of Legends Championship Series Summer, Cloud9 have finally gotten on the board. They lost their first three games of the group stage, which follows a best-of-1 format but have finally gotten one win.
C9 squared off against Dignitas, who was also winless after their first three games. However, it was Cloud9 who emerged victorious, moving up to eighth in the group stage standings.
In the split, Cloud9 lost their first game to Evil Geniuses, who sit atop the group standings with four consecutive victories. Their next game in week 1 was against Golden Guardians, and in under 30 minutes, they were beaten once again.
To round up week 1, they faced off against Team Liquid, which ended in another loss.
Perhaps the difference for C9 entering week 2 was the return of their AD carry and support duo. Kim “Berserker” Min-cheol and Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen, who missed week one due to “lost passports and COVID-19 cases” made their return to the team.
However, Ibrahim “Fudge” Allami was the MVP of the game after 33 minutes of action. Recall that C9 has reinstated Fudge as the top laner after he played as the midlaner in Spring.
Mitchell “Destiny” Shaw and Calvin “k1ng” Truong, who acted as stand-ins for the original starters will return to the Academy. Although they gave it their best shot, their efforts were not enough to help the team get a win.
Cloud9 will resume action later today as they take on 100 Thieves to round up week 2. 100T are the heavy favorites to win with a 1.50 win odd across several betting platforms.
Given their performance so far, it will be an uphill task for C9 to clinch the victory. 100T are currently ranked second in the standings with a 3-1 record.
Regardless of how things turn out against 100T, C9 still have 13 more games before the end of the Summer split. If they can build on their first win, they could turn things around for the better.
A top-six finish will guarantee a playoff feature for C9. All matches in the playoffs will follow a best-of-5 format. If Cloud9 finishes in the top three at the end of the Summer, they will get a direct seeding to the League of Legends 2022 World Championship.
