Cloud9

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Cloud9 (disambiguation).

Cloud9 Esports, Inc.
TypePrivate
IndustryEsports
Founded2013
Founders
  • Jack Etienne
  • Paullie Etienne
HeadquartersSanta Monica, California,
U.S.
Key people
  • CEO: Jack Etienne
  • COO: Paullie Etienne
  • President: Dan Fiden[1]
RevenueIncrease US$30 million[2] (2020)
Total equityDecrease US$350 million[2] (2020)
Divisions
hide
9
  • Fortnite
  • Hearthstone
  • League of Legends
  • Overwatch
  • Rainbow Six Siege
  • Super Smash Bros. Melee
  • Teamfight Tactics
  • Valorant
  • World of Warcraft
WebsiteOfficial website Edit this at Wikidata

Cloud9 Esports, Inc., or simply Cloud9 (C9), is an American professional esports company based in Santa Monica, California. The company was originally founded as a professional League of Legends team founded by Jack and Paullie Etienne in May 2013 and was incorporated into Cloud9 Esports, Inc. on September 6, 2016. Cloud9 has received US$78 million in total raised equity via venture capital funding and was ranked the world's second-most valuable esports organization in 2020.

Cloud9 has held divisions in numerous esports throughout its existence, establishing eight by 2014. In 2018, Cloud9 won three international championships: the Rocket League Championship Series Season 6 World Championship, the 2018 Overwatch League Grand Finals, and the ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2018. The company currently operates two franchised teams: Cloud9 League of Legends of the League of Legends Championship Series and London Spitfire of the Overwatch League. They also operate non-franchised teams in Fortnite, Halo, Hearthstone, Rainbow 6, Super Smash Bros., Teamfight Tactics, Valorant, and World of Warcraft.

History[]

2013: Beginnings[]

The team that would become Cloud9 originated after esports organization Quantic Gaming released all of their League of Legends players. Afterwards, all five players formed their own team under the moniker Team NomNom, and later rebranded to Cloud9 in early 2013.[3][4] Cloud9 was then reacquired by Quantic Gaming on April 1, 2013, and later rebranded the team back to Cloud9.[4][5] The team then changed hands again in May 2013, as former Team SoloMid manager Jack Etienne and Paullie Etienne bought out the contracts of the players for less than $20,000, officially creating the Cloud9 organization.[6][5][7] Paullie Etienne was appointed the chief operating officer, and Jack Etienne's father eventually signed on as the organization's first legal counsel.[8]

2013–2018: Expansion and funding[]

After early success in the organization's League of Legends division, Cloud9 expanded their brand into other esport games. The organization entered Smite esports in December 2013.[9] In 2014, Cloud9 created divisions for Dota 2,[10] Super Smash Bros. Melee,[11] Hearthstone,[12] Counter-Strike: Global Offensive,[13] Heroes of the Storm,[14] and Halo.[15] The organization disbanded their Smite division the same year due to internal issues, just prior to the start of the Smite Pro League,[16] but it was reopened in January 2015.[17] Throughout 2015 and 2016, Cloud9 established several more divisions, including Call of Duty,[18] Overwatch,[19] and their first touchscreen esport Vainglory.[20] On September 6, 2016, the organization incorporated into Cloud9 Esports, Inc.[21][22]

Although several of their divisions would dissolve, by March 2017, the company had ten teams across multiple titles and over one million fans spending a collective 15 million hours following Cloud9 players.[8] That month, Cloud9 received a total of US$28 million from series A funding in a round led by Founders Fund, along with other investors Craft Ventures, former Facebook Inc. executive Chamath Palihapitiya, Reddit Inc. cofounder Alexis Ohanian, and Major League Baseball player Hunter Pence.[8][23] In July 2017, Cloud9 created their Rocket League division.[24] The following month, Activision Blizzard announced that Cloud9 had purchased a London-based franchise slot for the upcoming Overwatch League (OWL); with the requirement that all organizations in the OWL create separate business entities and branding,[25] Cloud9 created the subsidiary under the name London Spitfire.[26] In November 2017, Riot Games announced that Cloud9 had secured a League of Legends Championship Series franchise slot for a reported US$10 million, marking the second owned franchised team by the company.[27]

In June 2018, Cloud9 announced a major sponsorship deal with Red Bull, which included a deal that would place the Red Bull logo on the Cloud9 jerseys.[28] In the middle of that deal, Jack Etienne invited 30 investors to a London Spitfire match at Blizzard Arena; four months later, Cloud9 announced that it had received US$50 million in series B funding in a round led by Valor Equity Partners, along with other investors , Reimagined Ventures, and Glassdoor founder Robert Hohman. Additionally, Valor Equity Partners founder and managing partner Antonio Gracias joined Cloud9's board of directors as a part of the deal.[8][23] Funding from the round was to be used to establish a 20,000–30,000 square foot (1,900–2,800 m2) headquarters and training facility in Los Angeles, which was expected to be completed by the end of 2019.[29] After the investment, Forbes ranked Cloud9 as the world's most valuable esports company at US$310 million.[30]

2018–present: Success, controversy, and league owners[]

In 2018, at a time when many esports teams were significantly downscaling their operations and only focusing on a select few games, Cloud9 reached top-level international success in Counter-Strike, Rocket League, Overwatch, and League of Legends. The success of the organization led to Jack Etienne being named Game Shakers' Shaker of the Year in December 2018, an award honoring people who have made a long-lasting impact in the esports industry and helped raise esports awareness around the world.[8][31] In the following months, Cloud9 entered sponsorship deals with apparel brand Puma, telecommunications company AT&T, and automotive company BMW, in what were all of the companies' first team sponsorships in esports.[32][33] In that time, Cloud9 has established an Apex Legends division.[34]

In November 2019, Cloud9 was fined by Riot Games for violating League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) rules. Dating back to July 2018, Cloud9 had issued equity to seven of its LCS players through restricted stock units; Riot had created a rule in November 2017 that prohibited any team owner from being on the team's roster. Cloud9 was fined $25,000 for each player violation, totaling $175,000, and had to pay additional money to its players. Riot estimated the total fine to be $330,000 to $605,000.[35] Cloud9 was again ranked by Forbes as the world's most valuable esports company in 2019, along with Team SoloMid; the company was valued at $400 million, a $90 million increase over the previous year.[36]

In February 2020, it was announced that Cloud9, along with esports organizations Immortals Gaming Club, Dignitas' parent company New Meta Entertainment, Gen.G Esports, , and OverActive Media, had established Counter-Strike: Global Offensive league Flashpoint, the first professional esports league owned and operated by team organizations.[37][38] The following month, Cloud9 reentered Dota 2 esports after a hiatus of almost three years.[39] Cloud9 created its Valorant division in April 2020,[40] and in October, they created their first all-female esports team for Valorant.[41] Forbes ranked Cloud9 was the world's second-most valuable esports company at $350 million in 2020, a 13% decrease from the previous year.[2]

Divisions[]

League of Legends[]

Main article: Cloud9 League of Legends

History[]

Cloud9 was officially created in 2013 after Jack Etienne purchased the contracts of all of Quantic Gaming's League of Legends players.[5][7]

Cloud9 won back-to-back NA LCS championships in 2013 and 2014.

With a starting roster of Balls, Meteos, Hai, Sneaky, and LemonNation, Cloud9 went on a 13-game winning streak in the 2013 NA LCS Summer Split regular season, marking the longest winning streak in LCS history at the time.[42][43] After claiming the top seed in the Summer Split Playoffs, the team went on to sweep Team SoloMid, 3 games to 0, in the finals on September 1 to claim their first-ever LCS title.[44][45] With the win, Cloud9 finished the season with a 30–3 game record and the highest winning-percentage in LCS history at 90.9%.[43] In the 2014 NA LCS Spring Split, Cloud9 closed out the final five weeks on a 13-game winning streak, equaling their LCS record 13-game winning streak in 2013, and claimed the top seed in the playoffs.[46] Cloud9 won their second consecutive LCS title after a 3–0 sweep over Team SoloMid in the finals on April 20.[3] After going 5–0 in the playoffs, Cloud9 extended their record winning streak to 18 games and had gone undefeated in back-to-back playoffs.[46][47][48] Cloud9 made it to the LCS finals in the 2014 NA LCS Summer Split and 2015 NA LCS Spring Split, but fell to Team SoloMid each time.[49][50] In May 2015, Hai retired, ending Cloud9's nearly 750-day record of having the longest standing lineup in professional League of Legends history.[51]

The team finished 2015 NA LCS Summer Split with a 6–12 record, their lowest regular season finish ever, and missed the LCS playoffs for the first time in their organization's history.[52][53] In the 2016 NA LCS Spring Split, the team faced Team SoloMid in the quarterfinals but fell by a score of 1–3.[54] In the quarterfinals match of the 2016 NA LCS Summer Split against Team EnVyUs, Cloud9's Jensen set an LCS record 20 kills in a single game.[55] The team later fell to Team SoloMid in the finals.[56] In the 2017 NA LCS Spring Split , for the sixth, and second consecutive, time, Cloud9 faced Team SoloMid in the NA LCS finals, but the team fell, 2–3[57][58] Cloud9 to Team Dignitas in the quarterfinals of the 2017 NA LCS Summer Split.[59] In the 2018 NA LCS Spring Split playoffs, Cloud9 was swept by Team Liquid in the quarterfinals by a score of 0–3.[60] The team again reached the finals in the 2018 NA LCS Summer Split, but they were swept by Team Liquid, 0–3.[61]

After the 2018 NA LCS season, Cloud9 had their most successful League of Legends World Championship run. After advancing past the 2018 League of Legends World Championship group stage, Cloud9 swept Korea's Afreeca Freecs, 3–0, in the quarterfinals; The win marked the first time in seven years that a North American team had qualified for the World Championship semifinals.[62] In the semifinals match. Cloud9 was swept by Fnatic, 0–3, ending their World Championship run.[63]

In the 2019 LCS Spring Split, Cloud9 fell to Team SoloMid in the semifinals.[64] After reaching the finals in the 2019 LCS Summer Split, the team fell to Team Liquid, 2–3.[65] In the 2020 LCS Spring Split, Cloud9 finished the regular season with a 17–1 record – tied for the best game record in LCS history.[66] The team secured their third LCS title on April 19, 2020, after they swept FlyQuest, 3–0, in the finals.[67] The win gave the team their first LCS title since 2014; with an overall 26–2 game win-loss record, including playoffs, Cloud9 set a LCS record for the highest winning percentage ever in a single split by a North American team at 92.9%, breaking their previous record of 90.9% from the 2013 Summer Split.[68][69] Losses to Flyquest and Team SoloMid in the Summer Split playoffs not only eliminated the team from the LCS playoffs, but also eliminated Cloud9's ability to qualify for the 2020 World Championship, marking the first time in the organization's history that they would not attend the World Championship.[70][71][72]

On September 14, 2020, Cloud9 parted ways with head coach Bok "Reapered" Hangyu, who had been the head coach of the team for the past four years.[73] The organization promoted Cloud9's academy team coach Kim "Reignover" Yeu-jin as their new head coach.[74]

In May 2021, Cloud9 dropped out of the Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) before the knockout stage.[75]

Roster[]

Cloud9 League of Legends roster
  • v
  • t
Players Coaches
Role Handle Name Nationality
Top  Fudge  Allami, Ibrahim   Australia 
Jungle  Blaber  Huang, Robert   United States 
Mid  Perkz  Perković, Luka   Croatia 
Bot  Zven  Svenningsen, Jesper   Denmark 
Support  Vulcan  Laflamme, Philippe   Canada 
Head coach
  • Alfonso "mithy" Rodriguez
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (I) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • Substitute player Substitute
  • Injured Injury / Illness

Latest roster transaction: June 22, 2021.

Hearthstone[]

On June 26, 2014, Cloud9 announced the formation of their Hearthstone division after acquiring team DogeHouse. Joining the team was the players Marcin "Gnimsh" Filipowicz, Cong "StrifeCro" Shu, Rumay "Hafu" Wang, Alexandr "Kolento" Malsh, and Jan "Ekop" Palys, with Gnimsh appointed as the team's captain.[76][77] Additionally, the team picked up Andrew "TidesofTime" Biessener later that year.[78] Kolento won the team's first major tournament after winning the Viagame House Cup #1 in October 2014;[79] the following month, he won the DreamHack Hearthstone Championship.[80] Kolento won the teams only major tournament in 2015 after winning CN vs EU Season 2 in March.[80] The team picked up former Team SoloMid player Harry "Massan" Cheong in June 2015.[81] In November 2015, Cloud9 parted ways with Hafu, TidesofTime, and Gnimsh.[78][82] Cloud9 signed former team Archon player James "Firebat" Kostesich in March 2016.[83] After being banned from Twitch in May 2016, Cloud9 parted ways with Massan.[81] Several days later, the team signed Sanghyeon "DDaHyoNi" Baek.[84] In May 2016, StrifeCro took home the OGN Hearthstone Seoul Cup World Invitational.[85] Later that month, Cloud9 parted ways with Ekop.[86] In March 2017, Firebat left the team.[87] StrifeCro left the team in May 2017.[88] In December 2018, Cloud9 signed Cho "Flurry" Hyun-soo, Kim "LookSam" Jin-hyo, and Jang "DawN" Hyun-jae.[89] In March 2019, Kolento won StarLadder Hearthstone Ultimate Series Winter.[90] The team signed Lee "Portia" Dongjae in August 2020.[91]

Roster[]

Cloud9 Hearthstone roster
Players Coaches
Handle Name Nationality
Kolento  Malsh, Aleksandr   Ukraine 
DDaHyoNi  Baek Sang-hyeon  South Korea 
DawN  Jang Hyun-jae  South Korea 
Flurry  Cho Hyun-soo  South Korea 
Looksam  Kim Jin-hyo  South Korea 
Portia  Lee Dong-jae  South Korea 
Head coach
  • Vacant
Legend
  • (I) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • Substitute player Substitute
  • Injured Injury / Illness

Latest roster transaction: August 20, 2020.

Super Smash Bros.[]

Mango has played for Cloud9 since 2014.

Cloud9 joined the Super Smash Bros. scene after picking up Evo 2013 champion Joseph "Mango" Manuel Marquez for Super Smash Bros. Melee (Melee) in May 2014.[11] Mango's first tournament under Cloud9 was Get On My Level 2014 in Toronto, where he took first place.[92] In June 2014, Mango finished in first and second at MLG Anaheim 2014 and CEO 2014, respectively, meeting Armada both times in the Grand Finals.[93][94] The following month, Mango took home his second consecutive Evolution Championship Series (Evo) title after defeating Hungrybox in the Grand Finals of EVO 2014.[95] In October 2014, Mango won The Big House 4 after defeating Mew2King in Grand Finals.[96] In 2015, Mango finished in fourth place at Apex 2015 and third place at CEO 2015.[97] At Evo 2015, Mango fell to Hungrybox in the lower bracket semifinals.[98] At The Big House 5, Mango finished in fourth place after losing to Mew2King.[99] Mango's first tournament of 2016 was at GENESIS 3 in January, where he fell to Armada in the grand finals.[100] The following month, Mango finished in second place at PAX Arena after losing to Hungrybox in the finals. He secured his first major tournament championship of 2016 in May after defeating Hungrybox in the finals at DreamHack Austin.[101] The same month, he finished second at Get On My Level 2016 after falling to Leffen in the finals.[102] In July 2016, Mango finished in fourth place at Evo 2016 after falling to Hungrybox in the lower bracket semifinals.[103] The following month, he took first place at Super Smash Con 2016 after taking down Hungrybox in the finals.[104]

In August 2016, the organization added their second Super Smash Bros. player with the addition of Evo 2016 champion Elliot "Ally" Bastien Carroza-Oyarce for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U (Smash 4).[105] Mango and Ally both attended The Big House 6 in October 2016. Ally, citing health concerns, dropped out of the Smash 4 tournament after falling to the lower bracket.[106] Mango took home his second The Big House title under Cloud9 after defeating Armada in the Melee finals.[107] At the end of 2016, Cloud9 signed Daniel "Tafokints" Lee as Mango's coach.[108]

Ally and Mango competed in GENESIS 4 in January 2017. Both Cloud9 members took second place in their respective tournaments, with Ally falling to MKLeo in the Smash 4 finals and Mango falling to Armada in the Melee finals.[109][100] At EVO 2017, Ally failed to defend his Smash 4 EVO title from 2016, finishing outside the top 32.[110] In the Melee tournament, Mango reached the grand finals, but he fell to Armada in the finals match to finish in second place.[111] The following month, Mango defended his Super Smash Con title after winning Super Smash Con 2017.[112] The two competed at The Big House 7 in October 2017. Ally finished the Smash 4 tournament in the top eight,[113] while Mango finished in the top six of the Melee tournament.[114] In January 2018, Ally and Mango competed at GENESIS 5, with Ally finishing in ninth place and Mango finishing in fifth.[115][116]

On March 31, 2018, Mango's coach Tafokints announced he was departing the organization to join Counter Logic Gaming as their business development manager.[117] Five days later, Cloud9 parted ways with Ally.[118]

At Evo 2018, Mango finished in the top eight.[119] Mango competed in his first Super Smash Bros. Ultimate tournament in June 2018 and finished in the top four.[120] For the remainder of 2018, Mango failed to win a tournament but was able to finish in the top three of five tournaments, including Shine 2018, The Big House 8, and Smash Summit 7.[121] In May 2019, Mango won Get On My Level 2019, ending his 19-event, and nearly two-year, streak without winning a tournament.[122] He went on to win his second Melee major of the year in October after defeating Zain in The Big House 9 grand finals.[123] Mango started 2020 with a third-place finish at GENESIS 7.[124] In July 2020, he finished in second place at the Ludwig Ahgren Championship Series 2 after falling to Zain in the grand finals.[125] In November, Mango was the runner-up at Smash Summit 10.[126] Mango finished 2020 with a win at the Ludwig Ahgren Championship Series 3 after defeating iBDW in the finals.[127]

Roster[]

Cloud9 Super Smash Bros. Melee roster
Players Coaches
Handle Name Nationality
Mango  Marquez, Joseph   United States 
Head coach
  • Vacant
Legend
  • (I) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • Substitute player Substitute
  • Injured Injury / Illness

Latest roster transaction: April 4, 2018.

Overwatch[]

History[]

Pre-Overwatch League[]

Cloud9 formed its Overwatch division in March 2016 after signing team "google me".[19] The team won several LAN events in April and May, such as the One Nation of Gamers Overwatch Invitational, Overkill, and the Alienware Monthly Melee.[128] Their first major tournament post-release of Overwatch was the Agents Rising tournament,[129] which they won after defeating Team Liquid in the finals.[128]

Following Agents Rising, they finished second in both the June Alienware Monthly and Operation Breakout tournaments; both times they fell to Team EnVyUs in the finals. Later that month, Cloud9 finished in fourth place at the OG Invitational tournament after losing to Northern Gaming in the third place match. After several wins in smaller weekly and qualifier tournaments, the team9 qualified for the Beyond the Summit (BTS) Overwatch Cup, Overwatch Open, and 2016 ESL Overwatch Atlantic Showdown. The team finished in second place at BTS after losing to Team EnVyUs in the finals, fell to Team EnVyUs in the group stage semifinals at the Overwatch Open, and did not make it past the group stage at the Atlantic Showdown.[128][130] Cloud9 was one of four western teams invited to compete in South Korea's OGN Overwatch APEX Season 2, which began in January 2017.[131] After falling to South Korean team KongDoo Uncia on February 28 in the group stage, Cloud9 was eliminated from the tournament.[132]

Cloud9 failed to qualify for Overwatch Contenders North America season one; afterwards, the company acquired the former Laser Kittenz roster and established their European team Cloud9 EU for season one of Overwatch Contenders Europe.[133] The following month, in September 2017, Cloud9 established their third Overwatch team after acquiring South Korean team KongDoo Panthera and competed under the moniker Cloud9 KongDoo.[134] Cloud9 EU made it to the playoffs in Contenders Europe season one, but they fell to Misfits Gaming semifinals on October 7.[135] Meanwhile, Cloud9 KongDoo had been competing in OGN Overwatch APEX Season 4, where they ended up taking third place after defeating NC Foxes on October 17.[136]

London Spitfire[]
Main article: London Spitfire
The London Spitfire won the 2018 Grand Finals.

On August 10, 2017, Activision Blizzard announced that Cloud9 had purchased a London-based franchise slot for the upcoming Overwatch League (OWL) for a reported US$20 million (GB£15.4 million);[137] with the requirement that all organizations in the OWL create separate business entities and branding,[25] Cloud9 created the subsidiary under the name London Spitfire.[138] On November 9, they disclosed their 12-player inaugural season roster, the maximum permitted, which was an amalgamation of their Cloud9 KongDoo team and OGN Overwatch APEX Season 4 champions GC Busan.[139][140] On February 15, 2018, the Spitfire's European Overwatch Contenders team was announced as the British Hurricane.[141]

In the 2018 season season, the Spitfire became the first-ever stage playoffs champions after defeating the New York Excelsior in the 2018 Stage 1 playoffs.[142] In March, London parted ways with head coach Lee "Bishop" Beom-joon for undisclosed reasons.[143] The team qualified for the Stage 2 playoffs, but they fell to the Philadelphia Fusion in the semifinals.[144] London failed to reach the Stage 3 and Stage 4 playoffs and finished the regular season with a 24–16 record and the fifth seed in the 2018 Overwatch League playoffs. London defeated the Los Angeles Gladiators in the quarterfinals by a series score of 2–1 to advance to the semifinals.[145] London won both games against the Los Angeles Valiant in the semifinals, advancing them to the 2018 Overwatch League Grand Finals.[146] London faced the Philadelphia Fusion in the Grand Finals on July 27 and 28; in the best-of-three series, the Spitfire won the first two matches by scores of 3–1 and 3–0 to claim the inaugural Overwatch League title.[147][148]

London began their 2019 season failing to qualify for the Stage 1 playoffs.[149] The team qualified for the Stage 2 playoffs; however, they were knocked out in the quarterfinals by the Hangzhou Spark.[150] The Spitfire parted ways with head coach Kwang-bok "Coach815" Kim in the middle of Stage 3, leaving the team without a head coach.[151] London failed to qualify for the Stage 3 playoffs and finished the regular season with a 16–12 record, qualifying them for the 2019 Play-In Tournament for a chance to qualify for the 2019 season playoffs.[152] London defeated the Shanghai Dragons, 4–3, in the Play-In Tournament in an OWL record eight-map series and qualified for the season playoffs.[153] In the first round, London was defeated by the New York Excelsior, 1–4, sending the team to the lower bracket.[154] A 0–4 loss to the San Francisco Shock the following match ended the Spitfire's 2019 playoff run.[155]

Roster[]

London Spitfire roster
  • v
  • t
Players Coaches
Role No. Handle Name Nationality
Damage  25 SparkR (2W)  Andersson, William   Sweden 
Damage  5 Hybrid (2W)  Grove, Dominic   United Kingdom 
Damage  66 blasé  Tsang, Jeffrey   United States 
Damage  10 Shax  Nielsen, Johannes   Denmark 
Tank  11 Hadi  Bleinagel, Hadi Daniel   Germany 
Tank  2 Molf1g  Djernes, Mikkel   Denmark 
Support  9 Kellex  Keller, Kristian   Denmark 
Support  55 Ripa  Toivanen, Riku   Finland 
Head coach
  • Mads "fischer" Jehg
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (2W) Two-way player
  • (I) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured Injury / Illness

Latest roster transaction: 7 February 2021.

Fortnite[]

Cloud9 first entered Fortnite competitively in 2018, and formally re-entered the circuit in the summer of 2019.[156] The team is currently managed by Krissi Waters.[156]

Roster[]

Cloud9 Fortnite roster
Players Coaches
Handle Name Nationality
Avery  Bouajila, Jilani   Canada 
Blackoutz  Garcia, Patrick   Brazil 
drakoNz  Fernandez, Igor   Brazil 
Fryst  Radziwill-Debarba, Alex   United States 
nosh  King, Adam   Canada 
Head coach
  • Vacant
Legend
  • (I) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • Substitute player Substitute
  • Injured Injury / Illness

Roster

Valorant[]

Cloud9 announced its entry to Valorant on April 12, 2020, by signing its first player, Tyson "TenZ" Ngo on the Valorant roster.[157] The team is currently managed by Ysabel "Noukky" Müller.[158] In October 2020, Cloud9 formed their first all-female esports team for Valorant, known as Cloud9 White; their original Valorant roster competes under the name Cloud9 Blue.[41] The first original player to depart from Cloud9 Blue was Josh "Shinobi" Abastado (in-game leader at the time), who was dropped from the team on December 11, 2020.[159] The next player who left the team was TenZ, who stepped down from the competitive scene to pursue content creation (while remaining as part of Cloud9) on January 12, 2021.[160] Two months later, Vice was dropped on March 16, 2021.[161] TenZ left Cloud9 on March 11 to play for Sentinels in the VCT Masters event.[162] Relyks then left officially on April 16, 2021.[163] Cloud9 officially signed their current IGL (in-game leader) Ricky "floppy" Kemery and Erich "Xeppaa" Kemery over from their CS-GO team on April 19, 2021.[164]

Rosters[]

Former divisions[]

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive[]

Cloud9 entered the professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive scene on August 1, 2014, with the acquisition of compLexity Gaming's North American roster.[13] The players reportedly left compLexity after they received better offers from Cloud9 prior to renewing their contracts. Cloud9 made their first appearance at ESL One: Cologne 2014, where they finished 2–0 in Group D of the group stage but lost in the quarterfinals to Swedish team Ninjas in Pyjamas, who later won the tournament.[165] On November 26, Sean "sgares" Gares replaced Spencer "Hiko" Martin as the team's in-game leader.[166] On December 14, Hiko left Cloud9, to be replaced by Shahzeb "ShahZaM" Khan.[167][168][169]

On April 24, 2015, Cloud9 released ShahZam and Kory "Semphis" Friesen.[170] Five days later, Ryan "fREAKAZOiD" Abadir and Tyler "Skadoodle" Latham, formerly of iBUYPOWER, joined the team, and Braxton "swag" Pierce joined as an analyst,[171] sgares stepped down from the roster on November 24.[172]

Cloud9 placed thirteenth to sixteenth at MLG Columbus 2016, losing to Natus Vincere and G2 Esports in the group stage. Shortly after the event on April 12, it was announced that fREAKAZOiD would be leaving the team. Team Liquid's Eric "adreN" Hoag was subsequently announced as a temporary stand-in,[173] playing for Cloud9 until Alec "Slemmy" White was announced as the official replacement on April 23.[174] Manager Tres "stunna" Saranthus left the team on July 26.[175] On August 17, Cloud9 announced that they were replacing Slemmy with Timothy "autimatic" Ta.[176] On October 30, Cloud9 defeated SK Gaming 2–1 in a best-of-three series to win the ESL Pro League Season 4 finals in São Paulo, Brazil.[177]

On August 15, 2017, Michael "shroud" Grzesiek and Jordan "n0thing" Gilbert left the team, with shroud announcing that he intended to become a full-time streamer.[178]

On January 28, 2018, Cloud9 defeated FaZe Clan 2–1 at the ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2018 finals, becoming the first North American team to win a Major.[179][180] On March 31, Cloud9's main AWPer, Tyler "Skadoodle" Latham, announced on Twitter that he was taking a break from professional play. On the same day, a much anticipated transfer occurred with Jacky "Stewie2K" Yip terminating his multi-year contract with Cloud9 to move to SK Gaming, although he would later join Team Liquid after only a brief stay with SK.[181][182] shroud officially retired from competitive play and left Cloud9 on April 18.[183]

Cloud9 announced on December 6, 2019, that Timothy "autimatic" Ta, Damian "daps" Steele, and Kenneth "koosta" Suen had been released from the organization and their contracts bought out by Gen.G Esports.[184][185] A month later, on January 6, 2020, Cloud9 signed the South African team ATK's CS:GO roster.[186]

On September 6, 2020, Cloud9 announced that they would undergo a complete rebuild in their CS:GO division. The players continued to play under the Cloud9 name until the new roster was completely formed.[187] The next day, Cloud9 unveiled their new general manager Henry "⁠HenryG⁠" Greer and new coach Aleksandar "⁠kassad⁠" Trifunović.[188] On September 10, Alex "⁠ALEX⁠" McMeekin signed a three-year contract with Cloud9.[189] On September 19, Cloud9 acquired William "⁠mezii⁠" Merriman from GamerLegion and Özgür "⁠woxic⁠" Eker from mousesports.[190][191] On October 7, Cloud9 re-signed Ricky "⁠floppy⁠" Kemery, who becomes the fourth player of the new team.[192] The last player Patrick "es3tag" Hansen was bought from Astralis and was announced on October 15.[193] On December 28, Aleksandar "⁠kassad⁠" Trifunović was released by Cloud9.[194] On January 18, 2021, Özgür "⁠woxic⁠" Eker was released by Cloud9 following poor results as a team.[195] On January 22, Erick "Xeppaa" Bach was announced as woxic's replacement on the team.[196] On January 24, the return of Chris “Elmapuddy” Tebbit as new Head Coach was announced, along with the promotion of m1cks from analyst to the Assistant Coach position[197] Cloud9 disbanded their CS:GO division in March 2021, citing difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[198]

Rocket League[]

SquishyMuffinz, Gimmick, and Torment in their game against Dignitas to win RLCS Season 6.

Cloud9 created their Rocket League division in July 2017 after acquiring DreamHack Atlanta champions team The Muffin Men.[24] With a roster consisting of players Kyle "Torment" Storer, Mariano "SquishyMuffinz" Arruda, and Jesus "Gimmick" Parra, the team began play in the North America Rocket League Championship Series (RCLS) Season 4.[199] After winning the North America playoffs, the team qualified for the RLCS World Championship tournament, where they eventually was eliminated by Scottish team Method in the lower bracket finals.[200] Cloud9 made it to the RLCS Season 5 World Championship tournament but were eliminated by eventual champions Team Dignitas.[201]

In Season 6, Cloud9 qualified for their third consecutive RLCS World Championship tournament. The team lost their first match of the tournament to We Dem Girlz, dropping them to the lower bracket of the tournament.[202] Cloud9 won five consecutive elimination matches in the lower bracket and advanced to the Grand Finals, where they faced undefeated European team Team Dignitas on November 11, 2018.[203] Cloud9 took down the defending champions by a series score of 4–1, marking the first time that a North American team had won the RLCS World Championship since Season 1.[204]

Cloud9 followed up their Season 6 run with a semifinals loss in the Season 7 RLCS World Championship.[205] Between seasons, Cloud signed former NRG Esports player Jayson "Fireburner" Nunez as the team's coach.[206] Cloud9 finished North America RLCS Season 8 in seventh place, which put them at risk of being relegated to the Rocket League Rival Series, a lower division for the RLCS.[207] The team made it through the promotion playoffs to avoid relegation and participate in North America RLCS Season 9, but they did not perform well.[208] On June 10, 2020, Cloud9 disbanded their Rocket League division.[209]

Vainglory[]

On September 1, 2016, Cloud9 acquired Nemesis Hydra from Team Nemesis, getting their feet into the mobile esports scene. Nemesis Hydra had been one of the first competitive teams of Vainglory, having first appeared in March 2015.[210] In their short year and a half of existence, Hydra had made it to the third tournament day, at least semi-finals, in each live championship. While never winning a championship, they completed a 14-game win streak in Split One of the 2016 Summer Season tournament "Evil 8."

In the Vainglory Summer Live Championships, under the blue and white of Cloud9, the team beat Phoenix Reborn in the first round, falling to Team SoloMid in the second round, and Phoenix Reign in the loser's bracket, missing their first day three of live finals in their history. Cloud9 would not qualify for the 2016 Vainglory World Championship. The team overcame Team SoloMid in the semifinals of the First Vainglory Unified Championship in London and were crowned winners after taking down Gankstars in Finals.[211] In the 2017 Summer Unified Championships in Los Angeles they would once again be crowned Unified Champions, defeating Immortals in the final. At the 2017 World Championship, Cloud9 would make it all the way to the semifinal, before losing to Tribe Gaming, the former roster of Immortals.[212]

On February 5, 2018, Cloud9 disbanded their Vainglory division.[213]

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege[]

Cloud9 announced that they were adding Rainbow Six Siege to their competitive roster on Twitter on June 18, 2018.[214] However, the team that was originally put together by Cloud9 was eventually moved to Team Reciprocity, announced by Team Reciprocity on January 7, 2019.[215]

Cloud9 announced that it was re-entering the Rainbow Six Siege competitive circuit on April 6, 2019, with a new team of five players, one coach, and one assistant coach.[216] They have since changed their roster of players to swap two of their players for the upcoming season.[217]

On August 15, 2020, Cloud9 announced that the organization would part ways with their Rainbow Six roster.[218]

PUBG Mobile[]

On November 20, 2018, Cloud9 announced on their Twitter that the organization was picking up the North American PUBG Mobile Star Challenge Champions, who were originally a part of Team Gates Mobile for the North American Regional Star Challenge.[219]

On October 30, 2020, Cloud9 released their entire PUBG Mobile roster after they failed to qualify for PUBG Mobile Global Championship.

References[]

  1. ^ Leary, Thomas (June 7, 2018). "Cloud9's Dan Fiden Touches On What Drew Him To Esports". Sports Business Journal. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c Settimi, Christina (December 5, 2020). "The Most Valuable Esports Companies 2020". Forbes. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b Melo, Gabriel (September 26, 2018). "Cloud9 entra no Mundial de LoL querendo quebrar tabu de não chegar nas semis" [Cloud9 enters the LoL World Cup wanting to break the taboo of not reaching the semis]. ESPN (in Spanish). Retrieved March 18, 2021.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b "Cloud9: An American Revolution – A complete history of the original Cloud9 team, and how they changed the LCS, League of Legends, and esports forever". Esports Heaven. November 23, 2020. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c Shields, Duncan 'Thorin' (April 28, 2014). "The history and formation of Cloud 9 – Part 1 of the Cloud 9 story". OnGamers. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on February 16, 2015. Retrieved April 22, 2015.
  6. ^ Dave, Paresh (March 21, 2017). "Inside Cloud9: How this couple built an e-sports empire worth millions". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b Newcomer, Eric (August 6, 2018). "Can this man make his video gaming team a $1 billion business?". Bloomberg. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Johnson, Drew D. (2019). "Cloud9 Esports, Inc.". International Directory of Company Histories. Volume 214. Farmington Hills, Michigan: St. James Press, a part of Gale, a Cengage Company. ISBN 978-1-4103-8242-9. ISSN 1557-0126. OCLC 1109938573. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
  9. ^ "The rise of Cloud 9 HyperX". ESL. February 11, 2014. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  10. ^ Bailey, Matthew (February 9, 2014). "Cloud 9 HyperX picks up the ex-Speed Gaming.int team". GameSpot. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
  11. ^ Jump up to: a b Breslau, Rod (May 6, 2014). "Smash Bros star Mango joins Cloud 9". GameSpot. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  12. ^ Etienne, Jack (June 26, 2014). "Doge House Hearthstone to Join Cloud9 HyperX". Cloud9. Archived from the original on March 17, 2017. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  13. ^ Jump up to: a b Lewis, Richard (July 30, 2014). "Cloud9 set to acquire CompLexity's 'CS:GO' team". Dot Esports. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  14. ^ Wilson, Nick (October 15, 2014). "Cloud9 announce their new Heroes of the Storm team; will debut at BlizzCon". PCGamesN. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  15. ^ Lingle, Samuel (November 26, 2014). "Cloud9 enters the Halo fray". Dot Esports. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  16. ^ Lingle, Samuel (July 30, 2014). "Cloud9 'Smite' team disbands on eve of pro league". Dot Esports. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  17. ^ "Cloud9 Acquires Smite World Championship Winners Cognitive Prime". AusGamers. January 27, 2015. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  18. ^ Lingle, Samuel (December 9, 2015). "Cloud9 opening tryouts for Call of Duty team". Dot Esports. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  19. ^ Jump up to: a b Walker, Dylan (March 10, 2016). "Cloud9 signs Overwatch team". Yahoo News. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  20. ^ Cortez, Doug (September 1, 2016). "Cloud9 acquires Vainglory team Nemesis Hydra". ESPN. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  21. ^ Bräutigam, Thiemo (November 24, 2016). "Cloud9 Filed a Form D for 3$ Million in Equity Funding". The Esports Observer. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  22. ^ "Delaware Division of Corporations". File Number: 6103551.
  23. ^ Jump up to: a b Hayward, Andrew (October 15, 2018). "Cloud9 Raises $50M Series B Funding, Plans L.A. Training Facility". The Esports Observer. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
  24. ^ Jump up to: a b Wynne, Jared (July 31, 2017). "Cloud9 Enter Rocket League, Sign DreamHack Atlanta Champions". The Esports Observer. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  25. ^ Jump up to: a b Wolf, Jacob (August 25, 2017). "Overwatch League teams required to create new geolocated brands, confirms Blizzard". ESPN. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
  26. ^ Carpenter, Nicole (November 1, 2017). "Cloud9's Overwatch League team is the London Spitfire". Dot Esports. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
  27. ^ Spangler, Todd (November 20, 2017). "Ten Franchise Teams for 'League of Legends' North American eSports League Unveiled". Variety. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  28. ^ "Red Bull Becomes Jersey Sponsor for Cloud9, Extending Partnership". The Esports Observer. June 15, 2018. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
  29. ^ Amore, Samson (October 15, 2018). "Cloud9 Plans New Esports Facility". Los Angeles Business Journal. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
  30. ^ Ozanian, Mike; Settimi, Christina; Perez, Matt (October 23, 2018). "The World's Most Valuable Esports Companies". Forbes. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
  31. ^ Murray, Trent (December 2018). "Jack Etienne Named Shaker of the Year After Cloud9 Conquered the World". The Esports Observer. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
  32. ^ Fischer, Ben (January 14, 2019). "Puma Enters Esports with Cloud9". The Esports Observer. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
  33. ^ Hayward, Andrew (March 9, 2019). "BMW Signs With Cloud9 for First Team Sponsorship Deal". The Esports Observer. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  34. ^ Fitch, Adam (February 22, 2019). "Cloud9 signs PVPX as first Apex Legends competitor". Dot Esports. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  35. ^ Wolf, Jacob (November 19, 2019). "Riot Games fines Cloud9 $175,000 for violating player equity rule". ESPN. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  36. ^ Settimi, Christina (November 5, 2019). "'Awful Business' Or The New Gold Rush? The Most Valuable Companies In Esports Are Surging". Forbes. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  37. ^ Ashton, Graham (February 5, 2020). "Team-Owned FLASHPOINT Counter-Strike League Aims to Be Esports' Answer to UFC". The Esports Observer. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  38. ^ Webster, Andrew (February 5, 2020). "CS:GO's new team-owned league points to a different future for esports". The Verge. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  39. ^ Hao, Dexter Tan Guan (March 3, 2020). "Cloud9 unveils new Dota 2 lineup". Dot Esports. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  40. ^ Stubbs, Mike (April 29, 2020). "Cloud9's TenZ aims high as the first pro Valorant player". Red Bull. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  41. ^ Jump up to: a b Takahashi, Dean (October 25, 2020). "Cloud9 launches first all-women esports team for Valorant". VentureBeat. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  42. ^ Wolf, Jacob (February 27, 2016). "CLG end Immortals' winning streak". Dot Esports. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
  43. ^ Jump up to: a b Peel, Jeremy (September 16, 2014). "Prepare for d'aww: Cloud 9 talk what makes the best League of Legends team in North America tick". PCGamesN. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
  44. ^ Breslau, Rod (September 2, 2013). "Cloud 9 takes League of Legends Season 3 North American Playoffs". GameSpot. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
  45. ^ Wynne, Jared (April 10, 2015). "Is Cloud9 set for another title run?". Dot Esports. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
  46. ^ Jump up to: a b Shields, Duncan (May 8, 2014). "Top 20 LoL streaks in esports history: 10–1 (Part 2 of 2)". GameSpot. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
  47. ^ Lingle, Samuel (April 21, 2014). "It's official: Cloud9 is the best 'League of Legends' team in North America". Dot Esports. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
  48. ^ Lucker, Carl (April 3, 2017). "3 Best Playoff Runs in the History of the NA LCS". DBLTAP. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
  49. ^ Erzberger, Tyler (April 18, 2015). "Cloud9 vs Team SoloMid: an in-depth look at NA's top rivalry (Part 2)". TheScoreEsports. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
  50. ^ Lingle, Samuel (April 20, 2015). "After another NA LCS title, TSM will aim for international glory". Dot Esports. Retrieved March 21, 2021.
  51. ^ Wolf, Jacob (April 23, 2015). "Hai steps down from Cloud9 lineup". Dot Esports. Retrieved March 21, 2021.
  52. ^ Spinn, Riot (August 18, 2015). "How the Hai road led to Cloud9's shot at Worlds". Riot Games. Retrieved March 21, 2021.
  53. ^ theScore Staff (July 26, 2015). "Cloud9 save season, beat Team 8 in tiebreaker for seventh". TheScoreEsports. Retrieved March 21, 2021.
  54. ^ theScore Staff (April 2, 2016). "Team SoloMid defeats Cloud9 3–1, advance to NA LCS semifinals". TheScoreEsports. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  55. ^ Rosen, Daniel (August 13, 2016). "Jensen sets record for most kills in one LCS game with 20 kills". TheScoreEsports. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  56. ^ Berkman, Fran (August 28, 2016). "TSM outduels Cloud9 to win 4th NA LCS championship". Dot Esports. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  57. ^ Erzberger, Tyler (April 21, 2017). "A rematch made in Canada: TSM vs. Cloud9". ESPN. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  58. ^ Abbas, Malcolm (April 23, 2017). "Team SoloMid defeat Cloud9 to retain the NA championship crown". Dot Esports. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  59. ^ Sim, Youngbo; Lee, Jaeic; Woo, Hyun (August 20, 2017). "DIG Ssumday-Shrimp to Altec: "I want to play Sejuani, but I'll play Nunu for you because I believe in you."". InvenGlobal. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
  60. ^ Mickunas, Aaron (March 24, 2018). "Liquid sweep Cloud9 under the rug and advance to the NA LCS semifinals". Dot Esports. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
  61. ^ Waltzer, Noah (September 9, 2018). "Team Liquid beats Cloud9 for second straight NA LCS title". ESPN. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
  62. ^ Abbas, Malcolm (October 21, 2018). "Cloud9 eliminate Korea from the World Championship". Dot Esports. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
  63. ^ Mickunas, Aaron (October 28, 2018). "The NA dream is dead as Cloud9 get knocked out by Fnatic in the Worlds semifinals". Dot Esports. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
  64. ^ Geracie, Nick (April 6, 2019). "TSM defeats Cloud9 3–2, moves onto LCS Finals in St. Louis". InvenGlobal. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
  65. ^ "Liquid rally past Cloud9 for fourth straight LCS title". ESPN. Reuters. August 25, 2019. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
  66. ^ Geracie, Nick; Ousley, Parkes (March 30, 2020). "The 2020 LCS Spring Playoffs bracket has been set". InvenGlobal. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
  67. ^ Rand, Emily (April 19, 2020). "Cloud9 defeat FlyQuest in dominant LCS spring split finals". ESPN. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
  68. ^ DaMour, Henrique (April 19, 2020). "Cloud9 complete historic run with 2020 LCS Spring Split championship sweep over FlyQuest". Dot Esports. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
  69. ^ Field Level Media (April 19, 2020). "Cloud9 completes domination, wins LCS NA spring". Reuters. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
  70. ^ Geracie, Nick (August 20, 2020). "[LCS Summer Playoffs] FlyQuest upsets Cloud9 3–1; qualifies for Worlds 2020". InvenGlobal. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
  71. ^ Esguerra, Tyler (August 22, 2020). "Cloud9 sweep Evil Geniuses to move forward in the 2020 LCS Summer Playoffs". Dot Esports. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
  72. ^ Ousley, Parkes (August 29, 2020). "TSM returns to Worlds, Cloud9 misses for the first time in org history". InvenGlobal. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
  73. ^ Wolf, Jacob (September 14, 2020). "Cloud9 part ways with head coach Reapered". ESPN. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
  74. ^ Ousley, Parkes (November 2, 2020). "Cloud9 promote Reignover as head coach, replacing Reapered". InvenGlobal. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
  75. ^ Esguerra, Tyler (May 18, 2021). "Cloud9 have been eliminated from MSI 2021". Dot Esports. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
  76. ^ Wynne, Jared (June 26, 2014). "Cloud9 makes aggressive expansion into 'Hearthstone'". Dot Esports. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
  77. ^ Järvinen, Johan (June 27, 2014). "Marcin 'Gnimsh' Filipowicz and Jack Etienne on Cloud9.Hearthstone". GameSpot. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
  78. ^ Jump up to: a b Leslie, Callum (November 2, 2015). "TidesofTime and Hafu likely out of Cloud9". Dot Esports. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
  79. ^ Leslie, Callum (April 13, 2015). "Orange wins second major in four weeks at Seat Story Cup". Dot Esports. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
  80. ^ Jump up to: a b Dyet, Alex; Pickard, James (February 7, 2017). "The 10 highest-earning Hearthstone players so far". Retrieved April 10, 2021.
  81. ^ Jump up to: a b Leslie, Callum (May 4, 2016). "Massan out of Cloud9 as Twitch ban shows no signs of being lifted". Dot Esports. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
  82. ^ Leslie, Callum (December 1, 2015). "Gnimsh leaves Cloud9, plans to focus on casting". Dot Esports. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
  83. ^ Leslie, Callum (March 3, 2016). "Cloud9 signs Firebat, Hearthstone's hottest free agent". Dot Esports. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
  84. ^ "Cloud9 Hearthstone Picks Up DDaHyoNi". Dot Esports. May 10, 2016. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
  85. ^ "ESL Trinity Series Primer". TheScoreEsports. January 17, 2017. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
  86. ^ "Ekop leaves Cloud9". TheScoreEsports. August 2, 2016. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
  87. ^ Borgstrom, Mitch (March 16, 2017). "Firebat Departs From Cloud9". DBLTAP. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
  88. ^ Leslie, Callum (May 17, 2017). "StrifeCro leaves Cloud9, joins Phoenix1". Dot Esports. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
  89. ^ Cloud9 [@Cloud9] (December 3, 2018). "Today, 3 new members join the #C9HS roster" (Tweet). Retrieved April 11, 2021 – via Twitter.
  90. ^ "Kolento — the champion of StarLadder Hearthstone Ultimate Series Winter!". StarLadder. March 24, 2019. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
  91. ^ Cloud9 [@Cloud9] (August 20, 2020). "Another C9 announcement" (Tweet). Retrieved April 11, 2021 – via Twitter.
  92. ^ Mejia, Ozzie (May 15, 2017). "Mother's Day Mang0: A Melee God Strikes Back at Royal Flush". ShackNews. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  93. ^ Li, Kevin (June 24, 2014). "MLG Anaheim 2014 Winners: Super Smash Bros. Melee Returns Big as Mango Defeats Armada". Latin Post. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  94. ^ Charizanis, Kyle (July 2, 2014). "CEO 2014 - Melee and Project M Results and VODs". GameSpot. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  95. ^ Wolf, Jacob (July 12, 2017). "Evo: An oral history of Super Smash Bros. Melee". ESPN. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  96. ^ Barker, Ian (October 10, 2014). "Big House 4 shows why watching esports is better in person". Dot Esports. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  97. ^ Fabiszak, Christopher (July 11, 2015). "What CEO tells us about Melee at Evo". TheScoreEsports. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  98. ^ Womack, Barrett (July 19, 2015). "Melee at Evo 2015: Armada Is the Champion". Red Bull. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  99. ^ Womack, Barrett (October 6, 2015). "The Big House 5: A Retrospective". Red Bull. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  100. ^ Jump up to: a b Khan, Imad (January 23, 2017). "Armada takes down Mango in historic Genesis 4 finals". ESPN. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  101. ^ Wolf, Jacob (May 14, 2016). "MaNg0: "I've never thought of myself as a God"". ESPN. ABC News. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  102. ^ Lee, Daniel (October 12, 2016). "Leffen's 5 Most Memorable Matches". Red Bull. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  103. ^ Funes, Brian (July 22, 2016). "Mango at Evo: The More Things Change". Red Bull. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  104. ^ Lee, Daniel (August 24, 2016). "New England Melee on the rise for Shine 2016". ESPN. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  105. ^ Wolf, Jacob (August 18, 2016). "Cloud9 signs Smash 4 Evo champion Ally, sources say". ESPN. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  106. ^ Khan, Imad (October 9, 2016). "Ally drops out of The Big House 6 due to health concerns". ESPN. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  107. ^ Lee, Daniel (October 10, 2016). "Smash god Mango on Cloud9 as he takes Big House 6 title". ESPN. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  108. ^ Flander, Danan (December 30, 2016). "Introducing Mang0's Coach..." Cloud9. Archived from the original on January 4, 2017.
  109. ^ Wolf, Jacob (January 23, 2020). "Can anybody beat MKLeo in Smash at Genesis 7?". ESPN. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  110. ^ Newell, Adam (December 29, 2018). "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate esports players to keep an eye on in 2019". Dot Esports. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  111. ^ Khan, Imad (July 16, 2017). "Armada cements Melee legacy with second Evo title". ESPN. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  112. ^ Lee, Daniel (January 16, 2018). "SSBMRank 2017: 10-1". Red Bull. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  113. ^ "The Big House 7 Wii U Singles". Smash.gg. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  114. ^ "The Big House 7 Melee Singles". Smash.gg. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  115. ^ Lee, Alexander (March 22, 2018). "Full Bloom 4 sets the stage for a summer of Smash". ESPN. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  116. ^ Suarez, Luis (July 27, 2018). "#PGRv5: 40-31". Red Bull. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  117. ^ Newell, Adam (March 31, 2018). "C9 Mango's coach, TAFO, is joining CLG". Dot Esports. Retrieved March 26, 2019.
  118. ^ Newell, Adam (April 4, 2018). "Former Smash Bros Evo champion Ally leaves Cloud9". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
  119. ^ Kim, Matt (August 6, 2018). "The Top 5 Moments at EVO 2018". USgamer. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  120. ^ Lee, Alexander (January 31, 2019). "Melee legends set to make a mark at Genesis in Smash Ultimate". ESPN. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  121. ^ Nestico, Andrew (February 7, 2019). "#MPGR2018: 10-1". Red Bull. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  122. ^ Stubbs, Mike (May 21, 2019). "How Mang0 managed to win GOML and return to the top of Melee". Red Bull. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  123. ^ Michael, Cale (October 7, 2019). "Mango wins Super Smash Bros. Melee tournament at The Big House 9". Dot Esports. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  124. ^ Michael, Cale (January 26, 2020). "Zain defeats Hungrybox to win Super Smash Bros. Melee Genesis 7". Dot Esports. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  125. ^ Michael, Cale (July 26, 2020). "Zain takes down Mang0 to win Ludwig Ahgren Championship Series 2". Dot Esports. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  126. ^ Michael, Cale (November 22, 2020). "Smash Summit 10 Online: Live results and standings". Dot Esports. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  127. ^ Michael, Cale (December 20, 2020). "Mang0 wins Ludwig Ahgren Championship Series 3, Melee community raises more than $300,000 for charity". Dot Esports. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  128. ^ Jump up to: a b c Stuessy, Martin (September 28, 2016). "Overwatch: Cloud9 since Agents Rising". Esports Edition. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  129. ^ Higgins, Chris (May 23, 2016). "The Overwatch teams to watch at Agents Rising". Red Bull. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  130. ^ Lingle, Samuel (September 26, 2016). "EnVyUs takes NA title at Overwatch Open, will play on live television Friday". Dot Esports. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  131. ^ Carpenter, Nicole (January 11, 2017). "EnVyUs, Cloud9, Fnatic, and Misfits will compete in OGN Overwatch Apex Season 2". Dot Esports. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  132. ^ Nguyen, Steven (February 28, 2017). "Overwatch APEX Day 12: Fnatic, Cloud9 eliminated in group stage". ESPN. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  133. ^ Garren, Patrick (August 15, 2017). "Cloud9 Acquires Laser Kittenz Roster for Overwatch Contenders Season One". The Esports Observer. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  134. ^ Garren, Patrick (September 22, 2017). "Cloud9 Signs Korean Overwatch Roster KongDoo Panthera, Will Drop EU and NA Teams". The Esports Observer. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  135. ^ Nowasell, Joe (October 7, 2017). "Misfits nearly get upset by Cloud9 while EnVyUs & FaZe Clan move into the finals in Overwatch Contenders Playoffs". InvenGlobal. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  136. ^ Nguyen, Steven (October 17, 2017). "Birdring and C9 Kongdoo sweep NC Foxes for 3rd place at Overwatch APEX". ESPN. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  137. ^ Kelion, Leo (August 10, 2017). "Overwatch League strikes London deal". BBC News. Retrieved March 18, 2019.
  138. ^ Carpenter, Nicole (November 1, 2017). "Cloud9's Overwatch League team is the London Spitfire". Dot Esports. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
  139. ^ Carpenter, Nicole (November 4, 2017). "London Spitfire reveals its 12-man South Korean roster". Dot Esports. Retrieved June 28, 2018.
  140. ^ Nguyen, Steven (October 21, 2017). "GC Busan completes Royal Road at APEX". ESPN. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
  141. ^ British Hurricane [@Hurricane] (February 15, 2018). "London Spitfire is proud to announce British Hurricane" (Tweet). Retrieved February 18, 2018 – via Twitter.
  142. ^ Waltzer, Noah (February 11, 2018). "London Spitfire beats Houston, New York to win Overwatch League Stage 1 playoffs". ESPN. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
  143. ^ Woodward, Ben (March 7, 2018). "London Spitfire Parts Ways With Bishop". Retrieved March 18, 2019.
  144. ^ Craffey, Liam (March 26, 2018). "Stage 2 semifinal". ESPN. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
  145. ^ "Spitfire shuts down LA Gladiators, advances to OWL semis". ESPN. July 14, 2018. Retrieved March 18, 2019.
  146. ^ Lingle, Samuel (July 20, 2018). "London Spitfire sweep Los Angeles Valiant, will play in OWL finals". Dot Esports. Retrieved March 18, 2019.
  147. ^ Waltzer, Noah (July 28, 2018). "London Spitfire wins inaugural Overwatch League title". ESPN. Retrieved March 18, 2019.
  148. ^ Bright, Ryan (July 28, 2018). "London Spitfire duo master Philadelphia Fusion to claim first Overwatch League title". NBC Sports. Retrieved March 18, 2019.
  149. ^ Richardson, Liz (March 17, 2019). "Which teams made it to the Overwatch League stage one playoffs?". Dot Esports. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  150. ^ Cooney, Bill (May 10, 2019). "Unfortunate C9 leads to London suffering tragic upset in Overwatch League playoff match". Dexerto. Retrieved June 12, 2019.
  151. ^ Heinisch, Sascha (July 24, 2019). "London Spitfire releases Coach815". Upcomer. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
  152. ^ O'Brien, Joe (August 26, 2019). "Overwatch League S2 playoffs set as regular season concludes – Final placements". Dexerto. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
  153. ^ Richardson, Liz (August 31, 2019). "London Spitfire and Seoul Dynasty advance to Overwatch League 2019 season playoffs". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
  154. ^ "Reign upset Shock to advance in Overwatch League playoffs". ESPN. Reuters. September 7, 2019. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
  155. ^ Richardson, Liz (September 7, 2019). "Seoul Dynasty and London Spitfire eliminated from Overwatch League playoffs". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
  156. ^ Jump up to: a b "Fortnite". Cloud9. Retrieved April 5, 2020.
  157. ^ Cloud9 [@Cloud9] (April 12, 2020). "It was only a matter of time until we had our first @PlayVALORANT player" (Tweet). Retrieved August 14, 2020 – via Twitter.
  158. ^ "VALORANT". Cloud9. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
  159. ^ Cloud9 [@Cloud9] (December 11, 2020). "It's a terrible day for rain" (Tweet). Retrieved March 25, 2021 – via Twitter.
  160. ^ Cloud9 [@Cloud9] (January 12, 2021). "The original member of #C9BLUE @TenZ_CS has elected to step down from the team and competitive @PlayVALORANT to pursue content creation" (Tweet). Retrieved March 25, 2021 – via Twitter.
  161. ^ Cloud9 [@Cloud9] (March 16, 2021). "Today we part ways with one of the original members of #C9BLUE" (Tweet). Retrieved March 25, 2021 – via Twitter.
  162. ^ "TenZ replaces Sinatraa on Sentinels for Masters". Daily Esports. March 11, 2021. Retrieved March 27, 2021.
  163. ^ "Cloud9 Valorant: Relyks departs, floppy to fill in » TalkEsport". TalkEsport. April 17, 2021. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  164. ^ "Cloud9 Blue adds Floppy and Xeppaa to VALORANT roster". Hotspawn. April 19, 2021. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
  165. ^ Saedler, Philipp (August 16, 2014). "Ninjas in Pyjamas vs. Cloud 9: a record-breaking series". Electronic Sports League. Retrieved May 5, 2015.
  166. ^ n0thing: "[sgares] is calling again" (Interview), hltv.org
  167. ^ Cloud9 Welcomes Shahzam Archived March 16, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, cloud9.gg
  168. ^ Cloud9 add ShahZaM; Hiko out, hltv.org
  169. ^ Cloud9 Signs ShahZaM, Hiko Steps Back Archived December 31, 2014, at the Wayback Machine, news.esea.net
  170. ^ Cloud9 release ShahZaM, SEMPHIS, hltv.org
  171. ^ Saranthus, Tres (April 29, 2015). "Cloud9 CS:GO Welcomes: Skadoodle, Freakazoid, & Swag!". Cloud9. Archived from the original on May 5, 2015. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
  172. ^ sgares steps down from Cloud9, hltv.org
  173. ^ Saranthus, Tres. "fREAKAZOiD Departs Starting CS:GO Roster". cloud9.gg. Archived from the original on April 16, 2016. Retrieved April 13, 2016.
  174. ^ Saranthus, Tres. "Cloud9 CS:GO Welcomes Slemmy". cloud9.gg. Archived from the original on April 26, 2016. Retrieved April 23, 2016.
  175. ^ Rosen, Daniel. "stunna leaves Cloud9". theScore eSports. Retrieved July 27, 2016.
  176. ^ Švejda, Milan. "Cloud9 add autimatic; Slemmy leaves". HLTV.org. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
  177. ^ Wetselaar, Sean. "Cloud9 defeat SK Gaming, win ESL Pro League Season 4 Finals". Retrieved February 25, 2017.
  178. ^ "Shroud leaves Cloud9". youtube. August 15, 2017. Retrieved August 16, 2017.
  179. ^ Nordmark, Sam (January 29, 2018). "Cloud9 conquer FaZe Clan in the ELEAGUE Major: Boston grand final". Dot Esports. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  180. ^ Capstick, Keith (January 29, 2018). "Cloud9 defeat FaZe Clan in double-overtime upset to win ELEAGUE Boston Major". thescoreesports.com. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  181. ^ Striker (March 30, 2018). "Skadoodle announces inactivity". HLTV.org. Retrieved May 4, 2018.
  182. ^ MIRAA (March 31, 2018). "Cloud9 confirm Stewie2K exit". HLTV.org. Retrieved May 4, 2018.
  183. ^ Grzesiek, Michael [@shroud] (April 18, 2018). "Here is to new beginnings" (Tweet). Retrieved May 4, 2018 – via Twitter.
  184. ^ Robertson, Scott (December 6, 2019). "Gen.G Esports announce new CSGO roster, featuring former C9 core". Dexerto. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  185. ^ Chen, Ethan (December 6, 2019). "Gen.G sign former Cloud9 CSGO players autimatic, koosta, daps". Daily Esports. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  186. ^ "Cloud9 Signs ATK Roster for CS:GO". Archived from the original on January 31, 2020. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
  187. ^ "Cloud9 to transfer current roster and undergo complete rebuild". HLTV.org.
  188. ^ "HenryG revealed as Cloud9 General Manager, kassad to coach new lineup". HLTV.org.
  189. ^ "ALEX reveals Cloud9 move*". HLTV.org.
  190. ^ "mezii joins Cloud9 | HLTV.org".
  191. ^ "woxic signs for Cloud9: "I'm going to bring back the real woxic"". HLTV.org.
  192. ^ "floppy transitions to new Cloud9 roster". HLTV.org.
  193. ^ "Astralis confirm sale of es3tag to Cloud9". HLTV.org.
  194. ^ Cloud9 [@Cloud9] (December 28, 2020). "Today we're sad to announce that #C9CSGO is parting ways with our Head Coach @kassad" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  195. ^ "woxic benched in Cloud9 – report". hltv.org.
  196. ^ Cloud9 [@Cloud9] (January 22, 2021). "It's time to stir up some Chaos" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  197. ^ Cloud9 [@Cloud9] (January 24, 2021). "Bet you've never seen this coming" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  198. ^ Roberston, Scott (March 26, 2021). "Cloud9 ends the CS:GO Collossus project". Hotspawn. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  199. ^ Hayward, Andrew (January 2, 2018). "Who Knows Rocket League's Muffin Men? Cloud9 Does". Red Bull. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  200. ^ Hayward, Andrew (November 21, 2017). "Why Does North America Struggle at the RLCS Finals?". Red Bull. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  201. ^ Newell, Adam (June 10, 2018). "Team Dignitas are the Season 5 Rocket League world champions". Dot Esports. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  202. ^ Faletti, Ian (November 12, 2018). "Rocket League: C9 breaks down run to RLCS title". ESPN. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  203. ^ Barth, Nicholas (November 11, 2018). "Cloud9 Wins Rocket League Championship Series Season 6 Grand Finals". Twin Galaxies. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  204. ^ Thielmeyer, Max (November 11, 2018). "Cloud9 Defeats Team Dignitas To Win The RLCS Season 6 Championship". Forbes. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  205. ^ Thielmeyer, Max (June 24, 2019). "Renault Vitality Runs The Gauntlet, Wins The RLCS World Championship With Style". Forbes. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  206. ^ Cloud9 [@Cloud9] (September 5, 2019). "Today, a new yet familiar face is joining the Cloud9 family" (Tweet). Retrieved April 6, 2021 – via Twitter.
  207. ^ Dua, Phoebe (November 18, 2019). "Cloud9, G2 Esports face potential RLCS relegation". GINX Esports TV. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  208. ^ Absher, Joseph (June 10, 2020). "Cloud9 exit Rocket League, SquishyMuffinz to join NRG". GINX Esports TV. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  209. ^ Lopez, Jalen (June 10, 2020). "Cloud9 departs from Rocket League, disbands roster". Dot Esports. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  210. ^ "Cloud9 Acquires Nemesis Hydra; Another Milestone for Storied Organizations | Vainglory". September 1, 2016. Retrieved September 6, 2016.
  211. ^ "Cloud9 Crowned Winners of the First Vainglory Unified Championship in London". May 22, 2017.
  212. ^ "VG". Cloud9. Archived from the original on February 2, 2018. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
  213. ^ "Cloud9 Disbands Vainglory Division". Cloud9. Archived from the original on February 18, 2018. Retrieved February 17, 2018.
  214. ^ Cloud9 [@Cloud9] (June 18, 2018). "Hitting you from every angle, please welcome Cloud9 Rainbow Six Siege, the newest addition to the #C9FAM competitive roster" (Tweet). Retrieved March 5, 2020 – via Twitter.
  215. ^ Team Reciprocity [@TeamReciprocity] (January 7, 2019). "The First #RECPack Expansion of 2019 is here" (Tweet). Retrieved March 5, 2020 – via Twitter.
  216. ^ "Cloud9 Announces Rainbow Six Siege Team". Cloud9. April 6, 2019. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
  217. ^ "Rainbow 6". Cloud9. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
  218. ^ Cloud9 [@Cloud9] (August 15, 2020). "Today we are saddened to announce that we are parting ways with our #C9R6 team" (Tweet) – via Twitter. |date= mismatches calculated date from |number= by two or more days (help)
  219. ^ @Cloud9 (November 20, 2018). "Representing Cloud9 at the upcoming @PUBGMOBILE #PMSC2018 Dubai Finals from Nov 29 – Dec 1, the #PMSC NA Regional Champions have joined C9 as #C9PUBGM!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.

External links[]

Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Team SoloMid 		North American League of Legends Championship Series winner
Summer 2013–Spring 2014 		Succeeded by
Team SoloMid
Preceded by
PGL Major Kraków 2017
Gambit Esports 		ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2018 winner
2018 		Succeeded by
FACEIT Major: London 2018
Astralis
Preceded by
– 		2018 Overwatch League Grand Finals winner
2018 		Succeeded by
–
Retrieved from ""