Getting to Know NA: Cloud9

With stellar records in the domestic online leagues, and amazing performances on LAN, Cloud9 have become North America’s pride and joy when it comes to international competition. With recent accomplishments such as victories against the likes of Dignitas and Titan, and an extremely close best of 3 against Ninjas in Pyjamas at ESL One, they are making a strong name for themselves. With the team improving at this rate, you could say that the sky’s the limit for Cloud9...

After performing so well at ESL One Cologne, do you have any new goals going back into domestic competition?

Kory: Our goal is always to make the LAN’s we have to and try to figure out what went wrong in Europe and analyze why we lost, unfortunately everyone that isn’t us or ibuypower is watching all our games at these events so when we come back they know exactly how we play and we have no idea what random things they have planned for our matches so it becomes rather tedious playing best of 1 online matches in a game like CS:GO.

Jordan: As Kory said, domestic competition doesn't really do much for us in terms of preparation, or even moving up in the world ranks. We just have to simply make sure we make playoffs in ESEA and ideally win CEVO vs iBuyPower. Occasionally, as you saw, there is a team like Manajumas last season who beat us in CEVO online, but thats just something we need to work on staying composed for, I think.

Who would you say in the NA scene are the up and coming talent currently? What do you think they have to do in order to join you and iBP at the top tier?

Spencer: At the rate of current expansion within the CS:GO community it’s hard to say who will emerge since there are so many new competitors. The one team that I personally have kept my eye on is The Stream Team. Their lineup is packed with very talented and seasoned players that could pose a threat in the very near future. In order to join the highest rung of NA CS it’s imperative to have a stable sponsorship and right now, given the interest, there are quite a few organizations looking to make moves in this community.

Jordan: There are various players with skill like jdm, desi, dboorn, and many more actually… The thing is all with how much effort they can put in without being on c9 or iBP, so that if the time comes that one of these teams needs a replacement, they are ready. Outside of those two teams, there aren’t really any dedicated “teams” ready to take it to the next level.

Which teams do you think have been the most innovative recently? Especially considering the recent introduction of Cobblestone and Overpass to the competitive map pool.

Sean: From our time in Germany, I can say that the two teams that stood out the most are fnatic and LDLC. From scrimmages and watching during ESL, I can clearly see that these teams have put a tremendous amount of time into Valve’s new maps. Each team did an exceptional job of using preplanned smoke grenades and boosts.

Jordan: I do think fnatic is a tricky bunch. They have a solid mix of tactics and free/loose play style that is vicious on each map. And as Sean said, they seemed solid on cbble/overpass as well.

How often do you practice? What is the split between team and personal practice?

Sean: When a tournament nears we are playing Sunday-Thursday 5:00pm-10:00pm, however during downtimes we have been known to take Sunday’s off and focus more on individual play. I think it’s safe to say, regardless of practice, all five of us are playing everyday of the week.

You all have said numerous times, there’s always hurdles when it comes to you all performing at international events, many of them having to do with how NA is as a scene. What do you think needs to be done for the NA scene to become a premier area for counterstrike?

Kory: It’s really not that complicated we just need to keep a consistent map pool throughout all our leagues and give some sort of incentive for having teams live for longer than a season, North American’s have really good aim and skill but they lack LAN experience and a brain at times which is why you see most of the really good upcoming talent fail at LAN.

Jordan: As Kory said, we do need uniformity between major LANs and domestic LANs in terms of what maps are being used. Outside of that, better practice habits from our mid/high tier teams would definitely help the productivity of scrimmages. Also, it’s obviously tough to be motivated if you’re not on the top 2 teams here, so hopefully that changes with CS:GO’s growth and we can tap more of the talent pool in NA by having more sponsorship opportunities.

Many people are thinking about csgo in the mindset of returning to the former glory of CS 1.6. However with the growth of esports in general, do you think there is potential to CSGO to branch out as its own entity and make a new name for itself, growing even bigger than its predecessors?

Sean: After the last major, I think it’s safe to say that CS:GO has already grown larger than the prior versions of CS. CS:GO has done an excellent job in drawing new players due to the additions of streaming, skins, and betting. I don’t see the numbers hitting a plateau anytime soon!

Jordan: Yeah, although 1.6 might have had a higher placement in the competitive hierarchy in past years, it has definitely outgrown its previous versions in size of viewership and sponsor interest. Now we compete with titles like LoL, DotA, and SC in some cases, so its hard to say it dominates like it used to, but its showing promise to really provide for people to make a living playing it again, especially with streaming now available!

Do you look at the csgl odds before a match? Do they affect your mentality? Betting has obviously increased how engaged the viewers are, but do you think it dilutes the scene?

Mike: I think we all look at the CSGL odds before a match, but they never affect our mentality. We just check the odds to see who the viewers are favouring. Betting has definitely been a good thing to the CS:GO scene in terms of viewers, so I don’t think it dilutes the scene, but there is still some people who take out the loss of their bet on the teams and the players which doesn’t help anybody.

What are your thoughts on the betting “scandals” or accusations of “throwing for skins?” What can be done to counter this in the future?

Jordan: I think betting pretty much exists in all sports, but as players all you can do is worry about competing hard and with integrity. I think it will become an actual problem if players start earning higher salaries and are offered large bribes on a real basis. I hear alot about teams throwing right now, but I really fail to believe it’s ever really happened among “pro” teams.

Semphis, you’re obviously in much better shape than before, how did you lose so much weight so quickly? What are you doing now to maintain that?

Kory: Well most of the hard work is in the kitchen and resisting the unhealthy foods when you go out somewhere like the movies. I think diet was the biggest factor but I ran 6 days a week for an hour a day on top of that and about 80 days ago switched to the gym 7 days a week. My goal isn’t to maintain but to keep improving so hopefully people keep noticing changes :D

What has adding shroud to the roster brought that this team did not have before?

Sean: Adding shroud to the lineup has truly given us a new identity. Shroud is a fantastic addition because he is capable of being both a lurker and an entry fragger, thus we become more unpredictable for opponents. His ingame awareness in clutch situations, combined with his comms in early rounds, made him a perfect addition to our lineup.

Stunna, you are known as the team manager, what does that entail specifically? Does your previous military experience help with your duties?

Tres: As the manager for the team it’s my job to ensure that tasks and demands of the team are met in full. It depends what’s on the horizon, when the team is traveling there is a quite a bit of logistical work behind the scenes to secure bootcamp locations, airfare, lodging, and transit just to name a few. While on the home front it comes down to scheduling, productivity, and team morale remains high in addition to handling media outlets. Actually, the role I had in the Army was that of an infantryman and a Sergeant at that; therefore, dealing with soldiers both on and off the battlefield has transitioned over to e-sports quite easily.

Do you have any interests outside of gaming?

Jordan: I like playing golf, its a tough game but I’ve been slowly learning more and more. My handicap fluctuates from like 10-17 depending on my effort haha. I also have been playing adult league ice hockey every sunday since march again :D. Relaxing on the beach(or being near water in general), eating good food(mexican!!!!), and hanging with friends are past times as well :D.

Do you all have anything you’d like to say your fans?

Tres: I think it’s safe to say this point a hot topic within the community is match fixing and with that being said, no matter what the score or match outcome, Cloud9 has never and will never play those reindeer games. The betting of weapon skins on games is a really unique feature and is definitely something that we, as a community, shouldn’t take for granted.

On a lighter night we would like to take this time to give some shoutouts! A huge thank you to Jack and the rest of the staff over at Cloud9 for the platform of success you’ve set us up for. Huge thanks to the guys and gals over at HyperX, Logitech, Alienware, Air Force Reserve, NEEDforSEAT, Homejoy, Sidekik, and LoL-Class.com for making what we do possible. Also a big thanks to the supporters of each and every one of our streams as you guys show your support everyday!