LoL: Cloud9’s New Roster Announced
| Tags: League of Legends
| Author Bence Loksa
The team may have lost Perkz, but they have some other factors to keep an eye out for.
The 2021 League of Legends offseason just got a little bit wilder — with Cloud9 announcing an almost completely new lineup with some roleswapping sprinkled on top. After a mixed 2021, Cloud9 announced that it would replace veteran players such as Vulcan, Perkz and Zven. Instead looking to build a new roster going into the 2022 season.
They brought in two Korean imports; former Liiv Sandbox toplaner Park “Summit” Woo-tae and T1 Academy Marksman Kim “Berserker” Min-cheol. With both filling in the role of eastern talent in the team. Robert “Blaber” Huang will remain to support and lead the team from the jungle, while Jonah “Isles” Rosario will join from the Academy roster, splitting the Support role with Kim “Winsome” Dong-keon, who played in a Korean amateur team beforehand.
But even with the commitment to imports, the biggest surprise is Ibrahim “Fudge” Allami, who remains on the roster, but roleswaps to midlane to round out the composition. The Fudge Factor was a thing that many casters and players talked and joked about, but it seems like Cloud9 really want to emphasise on the OCE toplaner, or now midlaner being the backbone of the team.
Cloud9's disappointing season
Cloud9 gained a surge of attention in the last offseason after acquiring star midlaner Luka “Perkz” Perkovic from G2 Esports, and had a very successful Spring Split; only to fall flat in MSI. They were considerably weaker in Summer, having to fight for the last spot in Worlds. There, they made their wrongs right by making it out of Play-Ins. And even beating FPX in the race for playoffs. While they got knocked out in the first round, they were still the only Western team besides MAD Lions to make it that far into the tournament.
The team looks really great for the next season. Fudge had some great performances on the toplane, and if he can translate that into the middle lane, there should be no problems for the team with the amount of talent they amassed in this offseason. Under the leadership of Fudge and Blaber, the new imports can really shine and make a difference for 2022!
Bence "Atreus" Loksa is a freelance journalist and League of Legends shoutcaster, covering all things esports and gaming, also yelling loudly at big plays happening on the Summoner's Rift. While his main focus is Riot Games' hit MOBA, he also dabbles in Call of Duty, VALORANT, and as of recent, the tabletop wargame Warhammer 40,000 - where he looks to make some grudges with his Leagues of Votann army.