Everything you need to know about Cloud 9 EU

  The (albeit brief) history of Cloud9 EU

Around 1 month ago, a group of very talented solo queue players grouped up and formed a ranked 5 ladder team. Odoamne, K0u, Febiven, Hjarnan, and Voidle made up the spots of the team 'Apples is Sour'. With nothing to lose and CokeZero qualification around the corner, these 5 players mostly abandoned their solo queue top 15- challenger spots in an attempt to break into the top 10 challenger teams in Europe. Despite possessing 5 of the best mechanical players in the European amateur scene, I don't think anyone expected Apples is Sour to rise from nothing, to the #1 spot on the ladder in less than 2 weeks. They then maintained that spot for the days leading up to the ladder lock, fighting off teams like tricked esport (now Reason Gaming) and Gamers2YO (Oceloteworld,lololol). here is a snapshot of the ladder 1 hour before the lock. (note - the top 6 did not change from this point to the lock 1 hour later)

With a record of 47/7, it is clear to see why Apples is Sour attracted some big attention from various different organizations. I can't say for sure who else was in for them, all we know is that in the end, the Apples is Sour lineup decided to accept an offer from reigning NA LCS champions, Cloud 9. Since joining, C9 EU have romped to victory in the SCAN invitational, defeating Reason gaming, MYM, and lololol (Ocelotes team) only dropping 1 map over the course of the tournament, in the final BO5.

The Team

The Top Lane - Odoamne

Not a complete stranger to competitive League of Legends, Odoamne was part of a roster that briefly played under the Absolute Legends tag. This roster managed to reach the finals of EUW challenger series #4, defeating TCM and British Tea Time (Dignitas UK) on the way. they eventually lost 3-2 in the finals to Heimerdingers Colossi. In which Odoamne showed great versatility, by playing a different champion in every game of the 5 game series. Since that fleeting success, Odoamne seemed to fall off the radar, not showing up in any competitive teams until this point. A very solid player with a wide champion pool, Odoamne is the kind of top laner that is capable of picking up whatever is the FotM. Having plenty of experience on the AP tops, like Kennen and Lissandra, the assassins, like Jax, or as it is right now, the mega tanks, like Rengar, renekton or Shyvana.

The Jungle - K0u

Easily the player I know the most about, having worked with K0u in the past. When I was with Benched Gaming/Reason Gaming and we recruited K0u, a fairly unheard of young player known for only playing Lee Sin I will admit I was a little worried. I may have been mistaken. K0u is quite possibly the best mechanical jungler in the European amateur scene, possessing unreal abilities that have been praised by many LCS players, as he's been seen as a duo queue partner of choice for Alex Ich and Wickd in the past. Originally only threatening on Lee Sin/Elise, K0u has expanded his champion pool to include the popular picks of the current times, as well his favorites - Lee Sin, Elise and Evelynn.

The Mid Lane - Febiven

Febiven, formerly known as Fabiantje, is another solo queue superstar on the EUW server. Having hit the #1 spot on numerous occasions, febiven is known for causing many high elo mid laners to coil in fear at his mechanical ability, especially on his main, Riven. Still favouring the assassin champions, such as Ahri and Zed, Febiven has quickly been able to master the most effective champions in the current meta. Just don't leave Riven open...for your own good. As far as competitive history, this will be Febivens first real shot in the spotlight, having appeared for a few minor teams in his past, C9 EU, like many others of this team, is his first team that looks like it could be a #1 (amateur at least)

The Bot Lane - Hjarnan + Voidle

Hjarnan and Voidle make up the duo lane of C9 EU. Starting with the more well known member of the duo, Voidle has come to light ever since his 'substitute' performance for Gambit Gaming during the latter half of the LCS Summer split, and the season 3 world finals. Considered by many to have choked under the pressure at the world finals, I for one believe he did reasonably well considering the circumstances, and the calibre of teams Gambit were up against. Whilst before possibly lacking in champion pool, he has now transitioned to inlcude the very effective all in champions Thresh and Leona, while maintaining his skill on the more traditional supports.

Hjarnan is another fairly new face on the European LoL scene, competing under the name 'Infinity', he was briefly the AD Carry for Team property, which included 2 LAN trips to Dreamhack Winter and Dreamhack Bucharest, both time losing out to H2k, the team now known as KMT/Roccat. Although not known by the majority of Esports fans, Hjarnan is known by all in EUW solo queue. Favouring Ezreal with a 66% winrate, Hjarnan is solid on a number of AD champions, including a 35/7 ratio (83% winrate) with Ashe!

Trivia!

• Voidle has a smurf in Challenger that is just his nickname backwards 'Eldiov'
• K0u was once targeted by a DDOS attack, whilst duo queuing with Alex ich on stream to try and help Alex to Challenger on the day of ladder lock
• 'Odoamne' translates into " Oh my god " in Romanian
• 'Hjarnanbakomallt ' translates into ' The mastermind behind it all ' in Swedish. ( according to google translate! )
• The team is from 5 different countries, as listed below -

          Odoamne - Romania

          K0u - Norway

          Febiven - The Netherlands

          Hjarnan - Sweden

          Voidle - Estonia


Cloud 9 Europe will be participating in the CokeZero play-in Bo1s, where they are placed in a group with Atrox Gaming, Tiki Kurie Tiki, and Heavy Botlane. Despite a challenge from Heavy Botlane, myself and most others believe that C9EU should take this group with relative ease.