Cloud9 is an organization that has been around since 2013 Summer. They first got into the NA LCS after they signed Quantic Gaming's roster of Balls, Meteos, Hai, Sneaky, and LemonNation. After qualifying for the 2013 LCS Summer Split, they went on a 13-game win streak and road that success to sweep the playoffs beating Team Dignitas and then Team SoloMid in the playoffs to advance to the Season 3 World Championship. They ended up losing to Fnatic in the quarterfinals and finished 5th-8th.
They continued this success in 2014 as they took the Spring Split title over Team SoloMid once again, but then finished 2nd after losing a close 5 game series in Summer. This result still qualified them to the 2014 World Championship, where they found success in advancing out of the group stages. They lost in the quarterfinals once again to finish 5th-8th.
In Spring 2015, it was the 4th NA LCS Finals in a row that features Cloud9 and Team SoloMid. Cloud9 took the first 2, but Team SoloMid got their revenge and took the next 2. Summer 2015 did not treat them well as they finished 7th, outside of the playoffs. This was the first year that Championship Points was introduced, so only the 3rd seed from each region was determined by a Regional Qualifier a.k.a. the Gauntlet. Cloud9 were 5th in points, so they had to start in Round 1 against Gravity. They beat them in a close 5 game set, then faced off against Team Impulse in Round 2, where they again won a 5 game set. Lastly in Round 3 was Team Liquid waiting for them and this time they won the series in 4 games to advance to the World Championship once again. They had run the Gauntlet, winning 3 Best of 5 series in a row. The finished 3-3 in the group stage, but lost the tiebreaker to finish 9th-11th.
In 2016, Cloud9 were able to return to playoff form, but they ran into a familiar foe in Team SoloMid. In Spring 2016 they faced them in the quarterfinals and then in Summer 2016 they faced them once again in the finals, but lost 3-1 each time. They once again were placed into the Gauntlet, but this time they waited in Round 2. nV advanced and faced them in Round 2, which Cloud9 won easily 3-0. Then Cloud9 advanced to face off again Immortals and once again the Gauntlet kings prevail, winning 3-1 and earning the 3rd seed for North America at the 2016 World Championship. A solid group stage saw them finish 2nd behind SKT, but then they got swept in the quarterfinals to finish 5th-8th once again.
2017 was like a repeat of 2016 as they finished 2nd in the Spring Split to Team SoloMid and then got eliminated in the quarterfinals in the Summer Split. This time they had enough Championship Points to wait in Round 3 of the Gauntlet. They beat out Counter Logic Gaming to once again advance out of the Gauntlet and into the 2017 World Championships. This time they had to go through the new Play-In stage, where they went a perfect 7-0 and being placed into a group with SKT once again. And once again they finished 2nd in the group to advance to the quarterfinals, but they once again lost in a close 5 gamer and finished 5th-8th.
In 2018, Cloud9 started with a roster of Licorice in the top lane, Svenskeren in the jungle, Jensen in mid lane, Sneaky in bottom lane, and Smoothie as support. They finished the spring split in a 4-way tie at 11-7 but lost in the quarterfinals to eventual Champions Team Liquid in a clean sweep 3-0. The start of summer split saw a big roster shake up as veterans Jensen, Sneaky, and Smoothie were replaced by GoldenGlue, Keith, and Zeyzal. Eventually Blaber took over the jungle spot and Jensen and Sneaky returned. GoldenGlue and Svenskeren practices as a duo in Academy and got some play time during the split as well. Cloud9 had developed a strategy to field a 7-man roster that they could interchange for their NA LCS roster. They deployed this strategy both in the regular season and in the playoffs. In the semifinals against rivals Team SoloMid, they went down 1-2 with Blaber and Jensen. They then subbed in Svenskeren and GoldenGlue in Games 4 and 5 to take the series 3-2 and advance to the finals. They eventually lost 3-0 to Team Liquid, but the 2nd place finish in summer allowed them to be the top seed in the Gauntlet. And in true Cloud9 fashion, they faced off against Team SoloMid in the Gauntlet Finals and won 3-0 with Blaber and Jensen playing all 3 games. The Gauntlet Kings of North America had done it once again and advance to the World Championships for the 6th year in a row (from 2013 to 2018).
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