Cloud9 has dropped to 1-2 at the World tournament after suffering a defeat against Griffin.
The North American team was expected to come back into the mix after suffering their first defeat at the tournament against G2. It was, however, the opposite when the Asian team added to their misery.
Cloud9 entered their match against the South Korean team with a 1-1 record. They decided to retain Robert “Blaber” Huang in the starting lineup ahead of Dennis “Svenskeren” Johnsen, who helped them beat Hong Kong Attitude in their first match of the tournament. C9 also continued their bottom lane mage strategy, placing Sneaky on Sona.
After gaining an early advantage by roaming as a foursome leaving Licorice in a side lane, the plan eventually backfired as the match shifted slowly into the opponent’s favour.
Park “Viper” Do-Hyeon’s Garen and Son “Lehends” Si-Woo’s Yuumi engaged onto Cloud9 when were pushing Griffin’s mid lane with Baron. The Korean team, through their relentless effort, continued forcing fights, which prevented Licorice from splitting.
Licorice later rejoined the team, but Griffin has already had a majority of Cloud9’s base. Grifill sealed the game with two Barons then.
As a result of the loss, C9 now drops to 1-2 in the group stage of Worlds. Fans already had high expectations on the South Korean team coming into the event that is being hosted in China.
C9 had enjoyed success at the tournament in the previous years. They were placed in what may be the most difficult group where they have only recorded a win against Hong Kong Attitude.
The match which ended within 47-minute could have easily ended in favour of the Hong Kong side. This made Cloud9 bench Svenskeren. The change was however ineffective against Gamers2 (G2), as the kings of Europe stomped C9.
Things are not looking great for C9. Hopefully, with the second half of round-robin coming up, they can avenge their losses to G2 and Griffin before groups conclude.
The NA team begins the second half of the group stage onFriday, Oct. 18 with a rematch against Griffin scheduled for 8 am CT.
Written by: Mojeed Oladipupo
