The LCS squad inject some much-needed youth along with some Asian representation from the LCK ahead of the 2022 Spring Split.
Cloud9 will be heading into the 2022 Spring Split with an all-new starting line-up. This comes after their fifth quarterfinal knockout stage loss at the League of Legends World Championship. First off, Ibrahim "Fudge" Allamiwill be making a position swap from the top to the middle lane. To replace him, C9 decided to raid the LCK to sign former Liiv SANDBOX top laner Park "Summit" Woo-tae alongside former T1 Challengers ADC Min-cheol "Berserker" Kim. As for Jesper "Zven" Svenningsen, he will remain with C9 but in a more inactive role.
While they did lose Philippe "Vulcan" Laflamme to Evil Geniuses, C9 will be experimenting with two supports. Jonah "Isles" Rosario has been promoted from Cloud9 Academy while also picking up Kim "Winsome" Dong-keon from Shadow Battlica, who competes in the LCK Academy Series. Robert "Blaber" Huang is the only other player to retain his position, knowing just how key his expertise and experience in the jungler role is.
This will be a massive shuffle for the LCS organisation, which decided to move on big-name stars like Luka "Perkz" Perković and give Fudge a chance to show what he can do. It's also a bold move from C9 to inject some youthful creativity from the LCK, which have been one of the top regions for some time now. However, one part that could come back to haunt them in the future is their investment in dual supports. With consistency being one of their major downfalls of the 2021 season, the squad will want to start on the right foot to find the perfect balance.
Having dual supports does give you more options for different playstyles but having two contrasting ideas doesn't always work out too well. Only time will tell what may come of C9, which has always been one of the top three organisations in the LCS. With such a big shake-up in the roster, it will probably take some time for the team to adjust. However, they will have the likes of their MVP jungler Blaber alongside Fudge, both of whom have plenty of experience to lead the charge for the season ahead.
Cloud9
Woo Tae “Summit” Park
Robert “Blaber” Huang
Ibrahim “Fudge” Allami