North American organization Cloud9 have announced a major roster change to their professional CS:GO lineup, which makes them a predominantly European team for the first time in their history.
Cloud9 made history in February 2018, by becoming the first North American team to win a CS:GO major, as they defeated Europeans FaZe Clan in the grand final of ELEAGUE Boston.
However, since that remarkable achievement, Cloud9 have experienced continued troubles within their roster, notably with Jacky ‘Stewie2K’ Yip leaving to join SK Gaming, now MiBR.
Another of their major champions, Tarik ‘Tarik’ Celic followed Stewie to MiBR, and the major MVP Tyler ‘Skadoodle’ Latham has now retired from professional play.
After numerous stand-ins and role switches, Cloud9 is finally beginning to put a more stable roster together, with the recruitment of former FaZe Clan and Envy player Fabien ‘KioShiMa’ Fiey, who recently played with the team at BLAST Pro Series.
French player KioShiMa, who has been teamless since Envy released their entire roster in June 2018, brings on a wealth of experience, and is also the third European to join the squad, after Swedish players Maikil ‘Golden’ Selim and Robin ‘flusha’ Rönnquist joined from Fnatic.
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#C9CSGO have found their missing piece to complete the puzzle. Please join us in welcoming @kiocsgoo to Cloud9!
:newspaper: Read: https://t.co/qr3r8lnFgH pic.twitter.com/mgvie01vCR
— Cloud9 (@Cloud9) November 17, 2018
It means that Cloud9 is officially a European based team for the first time, with only two North American players – Timothy ‘autimatic’ Ta and Will ‘RUSH’ Wierzba – remaining from the Major winning side.
Cloud9 owner Jack Etienne said that they team were happy with KioShiMa’s performances with the team so far.
“I’m so proud of the way we’ve built this team and kioShiMa has been a great addition to the C9 family already. We’re all excited to see what the team can do in competition!”
It is unclear how this change will affect Cloud9’s status as a North American team in various tournaments for which they are already qualified, but they have the ECS Season 6 Finals upcoming on November 22.
