New lineup of Cloud9. What will it be like and what are the prospects?
Star lineups are already a common thing for Counter-Strike. When a team has high-profile nicknames in all positions, it immediately attracts the attention of the entire community and expectations from their performances become much higher than from other teams. Most often, it is difficult for star players to get along on the same team, since everyone pulls the blanket over themselves.
The same fate befell Cloud9. The club had a truly stellar roster of the best players in the CIS, but achieved absolutely no success. The collapse of C9 began in the fall of 2023, when Dmitry sh1ro Sokolov decided to leave the sinking ship and join Team Spirit. For the sniper, this decision turned out to be extremely positive months later, which cannot be said about the team itself. In addition to all the problems of the team, the absence of a sniper was added, because due to the state of AWP in CS2, the club decided to do without signing a new player for this position. Kirill Boombl4 Mikhailov became the new player and captain of the squad, and the role of sniper fell on the shoulders of almost all team members. On all maps, different players played with a rifle and this did not lead to anything good.
After the failure at PGL Major Copenhagen 2024, Denis electroNic Sharipov and Abay HObbit Khassenov also left the team. Only Kirill Boombl4 Mikhailov and Sergey Ax1Le Rykhtorov remained in the team. Cloud9 faced a long roster restructuring and since May 2024 the team has not played anywhere and refused all invitations to tournaments.
Before the start of the new season, the time has finally come to complete the construction of the new era of Cloud9; the announcement of the roster should happen very soon, as the time is running out for registering rosters for future tournaments. There is still no official information from the club, but insiders have already named the newcomers to the roster who will move to Cloud9 with almost 100% probability. If you believe the rumors, Nikita HeavyGod Martynenko, Kaisar ICY Faiznurov and Timofey interz Yakushin will join the roster. In this article we will discuss the potential roster of Cloud9 and its prospects.
HeavyGod – who is he?
The first player to join the new Cloud9 roster was former OG Esports member Nikita HeavyGod Martynenko. Despite the fact that he is Israeli, the esports player speaks fluent Russian, which was vital for C9. HeavyGod did not achieve any achievements with his former team, but stood out against the backdrop of a failed roster. He has achieved a 1.11 rating in the last 3 months and plays frequently on FPL. For a long time he has been holding matches and streaming together with Kirill Boombl4 Mikhailov and Sergey Ax1Le Rykhtorov, but there has been no official announcement from the organization. Also, Nikita HeavyGod Martynenko could potentially become a sniper, but the club decided not to repeat its mistakes and found a more optimal option for this role. This player is one of the most promising this year and Cloud9 was definitely lucky that they were able to sign him; other organizations also had great interest in HeavyGod.
Is ICY a good sniper?
Finding a sniper for a top team these days is an extremely difficult task. It is even more difficult to find a player for a given position who will have the same level of individual performance and ambition. But Cloud9 was lucky again and they managed to get one of the best snipers in the CIS region. Kaisar ICY Faiznurov played in AMKAL and did not compete in major tournaments, but he stood out statistically among even the most experienced performers at AWP. Even while playing for the previous team, it was obvious that the Kazakh would be taken by a top club; the only question was who could negotiate a transfer at an adequate price. The transition of Kaisar ICY Faiznurov did not take place without excessive hype. The player was suddenly expelled from AMKAL due to actions that could harm the club. According to insiders, the sniper could take tests at Cloud9 without the permission of his organization. At just 19 years old, he has racked up a 1.17 rating over the last three months and is the best C9 pick out there.
interz – still good?
The selection of the fifth player for the new Cloud9 roster took a long time. We have known about the past two candidates for quite some time and were just waiting for the official announcement. However, the fifth player on the roster really surprised the entire community. The organization decided to return its former player Timofey interz Yakushin. When he represented the club, he was considered one of the best supports in the professional scene, but the player was often criticized for his negative statistics. Over time, he dropped out of the team and was removed from the roster in January 2023. Since that time, he has only played in the failed TSM lineup, but is still one of the best players in his role. The return of Timofey interz Yakushin is clearly not a mistake for Cloud9, but there are big questions whether the support will be able to return to tier-1 level in the near future. He may need time to adapt to playing at the highest level.
The new line-up of Cloud9 looks promising and much more harmonious than the previous one. It is noticeable that a lot of time and tests were spent on its formation, the most important thing is that it finally has a sniper. The selected players will correct most of the team’s problems, but I would also like to see a replacement coach. The ideas of Konstantin Groove Pikiner have long outlived their usefulness and would like to see Dmitry hooch Bogdanov, who helped assemble the new five Cloud9, in this role. If the new C9 squad can find a common language and play together, they will have great prospects in the next competitive season.