Photo: Robert Paul / MLG

The team is the first to sign players from the East.

In an unexpected move, Cloud9 has pushed two of its players to the bench and has replaced them with Korean talents. Tank Ruben “Ryb” Ljungdahl and DPS Lucas “Mendokusaii” Håkansson have been transferred to C9’s inactive roster and the team will move forward with a revamped roster.

Jae-Mo “Xepher” Koo and Jeong-Hwan “Selly” An will be the first two Korean players to compete for an American Overwatch team. Selly formerly played for Rhinos Gaming Wings in OGN’s APEX Challenger League and helped push his team through to the promotion, will likely directly take over Mendo’s DPS position. Xepher (ex-OPPA.DANAWA) has been signed as a flex and will likely assist Cloud9’s tank Daniel “Gods” Graeser on the front line.

A third Korean player will also join the ranks of Cloud9. Beom-Joon “Bishop” Lee is a former support player for the powerhouse of KongDoo Panthera and contributed to the team winning two Nexus Cup. Bishop, together with fellow support Hyun-Jin “r2der” Choi were similarly benched at the start of the recently completed APEX Season 2, their support shoes taken by Seong-Hyeon “Luffy” Yang and “Bling”, which resulted in the team snatching a top eight finish. Coach will act as the head coach of Cloud9.

Cloud9’s Korean import follows the example of other teams in other esports, particularly League of Legends. In the competitive world of Riot Games’ MOBA, signing players from the most competitive region is an often sight. In the European and North American LCS—League’s highest form of competition in the west—14 of the total 20 teams participating feature at least one Korean player. Chinese League of Legends is also fond of attracting Korean players and those play in ten of the 12 teams taking part in the current LPL season.

It remains to be seen what the future will hold for Ryb and Mendokusaii hold. Inactivity usually leads to a parting of ways but with many teams in the scene signing a sister roster, it is not impossible to see the two continue to compete under the Cloud9 colors in some way.

Cloud9 imports trio of Koreans, benches Mendokusaii, Ryb