What is wrong with Cloud9 as the 2020 LCS Summer Split ends?

Cloud9 has been in charge of the LCS throughout 2020, but the American super team is starting to show signs of weakness. 

Cloud9 had a perfect start to the 2020 LCS Summer Split, winning their first nine games of the split and matching the roaring pace the team was able to maintain in the spring split when C9 steamrolled the entire league. After the first round-robin in summer, something seemed off about Cloud9, which lead them to taking some surprising losses. It all culminated in week 7 of the split, as the organization had its first 0-2 week in two years.

While Cloud9 has secured a spot in the playoffs already, it seems that such challengers as Team Liquid and Team SoloMid could be serious contenders to take the LCS trophy. Those two teams are currently looking like the strongest in the league, and both squads have beaten Cloud9 in the second half of the split.

What has caused the downfall of Cloud9 in the LCS?

C9’s first losses of this split were a surprise for fans and analysts alike, but were not taken too seriously by the community. It looked like Cloud9 was trying out new compositions and strategies to prepare for tougher competition on the international stage later this year, but their recent performances have started to worry fans. 

Yasin “Nisqy” Dinçer was interviewed by InvenGlobal after their 0-2 weekend, where he explained why Cloud9 is currently struggling seen from his own perspective. The usually confident mid-laner pointed towards the meta and the teams’ lack of aggression. 

“One portion of this is our perception of what’s good in the current meta and what is good for us as a team. Before, we always knew what was really good for us and what we would pick as answers to our opponent’s picks,” Nisqy said. “Also, we haven’t been playing that insane, in my opinion. Scrims have been very different from our recent LCS games. Everyone fights more in scrims than they do in LCS matches, so that might be part of why we have a bad read on the meta, too.”

The current look of Cloud9 is very different from what we are used to seeing from them and their lack of confidence is showing on the Rift. The team will still be the favorites by many to win the split if they find their rhythm again, even though the competition in the LCS has increased a lot during the summer split.

Cloud9 will be looking to gain back some confidence in the last week of the summer split, where they will be up against Dignitas and Counter Logic Gaming.