Cloud9 are one of the most experienced teams in CS:GO, having first entered the scene in 2014. There have been plenty of ups and downs, and we’re here to retell the entire Cloud9 CS:GO story.
The Early Days
The early days of the American organization were very much “throw everything at the wall and see what sticks,” as they went through various roster changes to try and become a challenger. They brought in players like freakazoid, shroud, n0thing, and Skadoodle, but the C9 CS:GO journey was just beginning.
Early Cloud9 CS:GO ft. Shroud. Credit: Helena Kristiansson | © ESL
Despite signing these great players, they still struggled to become one of the best CS:GO teams in the world. A single iBUYPOWER Cup win over Team Liquid was the highlight of this Cloud9 CS:GO roster, which struggled to win the important tournaments.
Something had to change. Between 2016 and 2017, the C9 CS:GO organization made some of its most important acquisitions. With the signings of Stewie2K, tarik, and autimatic, Cloud9 were ready to compete.
Major Winners
The glory days of Cloud9. Credit: ESLCS on Twitter
With the new-look Cloud9 CS:GO roster of Skadoodle, Stewie2k, autimatic, RUSH, and tarik, they began to turn doubters into believers. They built a habit of winning, with DreamHack Open Denver 2017 and iBUYPOWER Masters 2017. Not exactly S-Tier tournaments, but it was still experience of getting over the line. With that, ELEAGUE Major Boston 2018 awaited.
The Cloud9 CS:GO team entered the Boston Major as underdogs. They arrived at the New Challengers Stage as part of Kraków’s Fallen, alongside the likes of Sprout, Vega Squadron, and Flipsid3 Tactics. They made short work of it, going 3:0 against Team Envy, Sprout, and mousesports. The Legends Stage was where things began to get a little thicker, where they overcame a 0:2 start to go 3:2 and qualify for the Playoffs. A single slip-up and the C9 CS:GO Major dream was finished.
The Grand Final
Their run to the Grand Final was the stuff dreams are made of. Both G2 and SK Gaming fell to Cloud9, setting up a final match against the FaZe Clan CS:GO machine. It was all or nothing. The Grand Final was a tight affair. The teams took a map each, and it went to Inferno as the decider.
What happened next went down in CS:GO history. FaZe had taken them map to map and tournament point, with the score 15:14. A FaZe roster stacked with legends, of NiKo, olofmeister, karrigan, GuardiaN, and rain, needed just a single round to etch their names into eternity. FaZe focused their attention on the B bombsite, where Stewie2K had been tasked with holding alone with an AWP. With just 10 seconds left in the round, three FaZe players sprinted into the bombsite, and Stewie2K took them down one by one, taking the series to overtime. It’s one of the most legendary CS:GO clips of all time, and proved to be a defining moment in the match.
FaZe’s mental was shattered. The Cloud9 CS:GO team capitalized, winning the match in overtime. The Cinderella run was complete, and Cloud9 were CS:GO Major champions.
#C9CSGO take the win over @FaZeClan and are the Champions of the New Champions Stage of the #ELEAGUEMajor! #C9WIN pic.twitter.com/j9uV802kF0
— Cloud9 (@Cloud9) January 28, 2018
Unfortunately, the team have never hit those highs again. Stewie2K left just two months after the Major win, and the project somewhat fell apart just as it really began.
After a few years of floating around the scene, it came to a head in early 2021, when Cloud9 announced it was leaving CS:GO. Major winners just years prior, it was a massive shock. But they’d be back.
Buying Gambit
In April 2022, Cloud9 announced its return to CS:GO with the purchase of Gambit’s roster. Ax1Le, HObbit, interz, nafany, and sh1ro would all be the latest players to represent Cloud9. This was a big change for Cloud9 – the organization was typically NA-focused, and this was an entirely CIS roster.
Still, it was a decision that paid dividends immediately, with an IEM Dallas 2022 victory just two months after they formed.
IEM Dallas 2022 was a great win for Cloud9. Credit: Eric Anamalay | © ESL
Unfortunately, they’ve not really pushed on from that, though. They recently replaced interz with buster, a move that was more of a sideways step than anything. They’re still amongst the best teams in the world, but can’t quite seem to ever get over the line. It will take a lot of grinding for this Cloud9 CS:GO roster to find more success together. Can they do it? Only time will answer that.
If you want to know about other CS:GO teams across the world, check out our NAVI CS:GO profile for even more!
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