Cloud9 will take on Faint Gaming in the first round of the WINNERS League Season 3 playoffs.
The fan-favorite North American organization will go for the gold with the roster it acquired from ATK. The team will look to follow up on a successful run through the IEM Katowice 2020 Americas qualifiers.
In early December, Cloud9 sent Timothy “autimatic” Ta, Damien “daps” Steele, and Kenneth “koosta” Suen to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive newcomer Gen.G, worrying fans in the process. Once the top team in North America, Cloud9 has floundered since its historic Major win at the 2018 ELEAGUE Boston Major. Giving up three solid players during a free agency drought seemed like a bad idea to fans who had stuck with them through the tough times.
But Cloud9’s owner, Jack Etienne, and the organization had a plan that brought C9 back into the spotlight. C9 announced the signing of a successful ATK roster on January 6, marking a hopeful return to form in Counter-Strike after almost two years of disappointment. The Cloud9 roster is now comprised of the following players:
- Johnny “JT” Theodosiou
- Ian “motm” Hardy
- Aran “Sonic” Groesbeek
- Joshua “oSee” Ohm
- Ricky “floppy” Kemery
- Tiaan “T.c” Coertzen (Coach)
Cloud9’s ATK signing smart, WINNERS League and IEM Katowice approaching
The signing came ahead of the WINNERS League Season 3 playoffs, where Cloud9 will start the tournament matched against Faint Gaming. Faint enters the playoffs with a sturdy 5-2 record, but the team faces stiff odds against C9.
During the regular season, ATK built up a +47 round differential and only allowed an opponent double-digit rounds twice in seven games.
Faint took a different path to the WINNERS League playoffs. Two of their five wins came via forfeit, and their loss against Team Singularity was rough for a team that needed every win they got. Faint Gaming is expected to field a combo of these six against Cloud9:
- DROID
- Sterlingg
- bite
- Cxzi
- Welly
- zeck
Their game can be found on the official WINNERS League Twitch channel.
