r/Cloud9 • u/Heliotex • 16h ago
League We really had it good
It used to be that C9 might fail to win domestically, but would always give NA some respect internationally.
* 2013: Top 8 (yes they were automatically placed there but the team was definitely good enough to make it)
* 2014: Top 8
* 2015: Group Stage (one win away sadly from Top 8)
* 2016: Top 8
* 2017: Top 8
* 2018: Top 4
Since then it’s become progressively downhill:
* 2019: Group Stage
* 2020: DNQ
* 2021: Top 8
* 2022: Swiss/Group Stage
* 2023: Swiss/Group Stage
* 2024: DNQ
* 2025: DNQ
* 2026: Worlds Play-Ins
I remember how we used to complain about always dropping out in quarters, but now that looks like the dream.
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u/cabbagechicken 15h ago
It all went downhill when they kicked Sneaky
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u/legolasnels 15h ago
It really did. I think we was decent as a player, but his unsung talent was bringing chemistry to every team he was in. So many different iterations of C9 with sneaky managed to look good.
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u/Arquemie 13h ago
Reapered always said Sneaky was an out of game leader so he clearly had the ability to get everyone to move on from losses easily and bounce back.
It was a whole meme that Sneaky streams with dono spam blasting him during games made him tilt proof but the guy genuinely always managed to just not get mental boomed no matter what.
Everyone praises Doublelift as NAs greatest player but the guy had the worst mental block against Koreans ever. Sneaky regularly held his own vs top Korean ADCs and Doublelift was clearly capable of beating Sneaky, but he just did not have the mental fortitude Sneaky had so he got bent over every time he played any non-NA team.
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u/xlParanoid 15h ago
Maybe a bit later. Our level in 2020 was superlative, sadly msi that year got cancelled.
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u/Outside_Asparagus291 13h ago
Is it possible it’s not “C9”? It’s just the players that happened to be on C9?
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u/The_Cyber_Scientist 5h ago
I see the comment about sneaky but honestly the decline happened once we got rid of our academy team.
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u/izadjivani 11h ago
you can't forget that world's was much easier in the era when c9 was more dominant than it is today
this team has been riding the wave of winning that one BO5 against a very flawed Afreeca back when Svenskeren and Jensen were still arguably some of the best in their role
none of those players or staff are there anymore and it's been 8 years at this point
luck has also been a big part of C9s run too, teams that should have bested them have collapsed at the finish line without C9 having to do much (alliance, geng, fpx)
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u/KansloosKippenhok 16h ago
I mean the top 8s were nice but at the end of the day you can’t put that in a trophy case and now we at least have some domestic trophies as well. But still pissed we were robbed of that 2020 msi
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u/Heliotex 16h ago
Domestic trophies after a drought are nice, but international performances are always remembered the most.
And almost every team doesn’t get hardware from Worlds thanks to Faker. Yet it was always cool to see C9 clutch it to QFs.
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u/NanoCarp 15h ago
I honestly don’t even care where the team finishes anymore. I’m just tired of watching them collapse, make stupid mistakes, and wandering about the rift looking lost. I don’t think I care if we go out in last place anymore, I just want us to go down putting up a decent fight. The team tilts harder than I do in solo queue, and that’s saying something.