Cloud9 is a difficult position. The roster, touted throughout the split as the squad to bring back C9’s glory days, crumbled at the LCS’ finish line yet again. To find out what happened during C9 vs. LYON just after the series, and discuss the (now-underway) upcoming Americas Cup, where C9 would go on to face yet more steep challenges, Sheep Esports sat down for an in-depth discussion with head coach Nick “Inero” Smith.
How did the coaching staff feel as the series progressed?
Nick “Inero” Smith: “As the games progressed, me and Dom (Christian “IWDominate” Rivera) and Veigar (Marius “Veigar v2” Aune) were pretty happy with what we had in our games. We really felt like we were overplaying our hand in situations that were already winning for us. In Game 2, we got ourselves pretty far behind, but the game was still playable. LYON gives up a lot of things, plays really really hard to get whatever farm they can, and slowly scales in the game, looks for mistakes on you, which is a good way to play. We have situations that are winning, but our problem has always been that we push too far, which makes it rough. We felt good with the champions we picked, and with what we were going in and playing. It felt like if we cut back on this, we’re gonna win the series, the series is ours, but we just couldn’t get it done. I think we just have to do more: in our lead-up as matches, as a team, as a staff, and as players, all across the board, to make it better.
What do you mean by doing more?
Inero: It takes more effort in our practice to be comfortable in these situations. Fix our ability to read a situation and know “this is winning for us,” and either play it fast, because it’s hard winning, or play it slow because the other team is screwed and in a bad position.
Would you say this hesitation is a consequence of playing few stage games, stomping so much that you’re unfamiliar with certain in-game scenarios?
Inero: I don’t think we have a problem with hesitation; our team has the opposite problem. We are always down to send, to push, and get more from what we have. Our problem is knowing where to draw the line. I don’t think it has anything to do with less stage games. Stage games always have a lot more pressure and intensity, so you usually get a lot more from the games, in terms of reviewing, because both teams are playing at 100%. I think it’s really just down to practice.
Cloud9 has been chasing a championship for years. Every time they’ve been in this position, on the brink of one, something goes wrong. Though you’ve been a part of the team for less time than some players, do you think the pressure to prove that they’re back creeps into their minds at all?
Inero: I don’t think that pressure is really there, of proving that you can do it. It’s more so just natural pressure, which exists no matter what in a competition. I don’t think that is neccesarily an issue, overthinking it and trying to over-prove it. At least, I hope not.
What habits did Cloud9 have across the split that the coaching staff didn’t see the team repeat today?
Inero: When a game is played very slow, and it becomes a game of inches, we’re not bad at it, but we can get a little anxious, and try to do too much. And part of that comes from practice. To be honest, scrims, usually, are a bloodbath one way or the other. We’re not in these situations as much, but there are some teams we scrim that give better practice around this, and push us more on it. We just have to run into these situations more in scrims and find comfort in taking things slow, taking just a small win and being happy with it. For me, it’s really just practice. There’s not too much to say, you know? If we knew the exact solution to it, we would solve this. We’re trying to figure out what we can do, to make it easier and more comfortable. We’re looking for other problems that might be leading to this happening. I don’t know 100% for sure, but one thing is that practice can always be better and cleaner.
Cloud9 has a veteran roster, with players who’ve won many championships. After another disappointing defeat, how does the coaching staff keep the roster motivated?
Inero: I don’t think we have too much of a problem with keeping the guys motivated. Everyone on our team really really really wants to win, regardless of the fact that they’ve won before. It’s been a while for all of the guys. They all want it extremely bad, so that is thankfully not an issue at all.
Inero: Our mindset going in to this; there is no practice. We’re gonna be flying tomorrow morning, and play the next day. So, there’s no time to practice. Our mindset is to focus as much as possible, to avoid jet lag, be fully rested and ready for the tournament. We’re not gonna have time to practice or do anything: it is literally show up, land, probably sleep, wake up, play. There is no time. For us, this is just gonna be more on-stage practice. That’s really at is. We don’t have time for anything else, due to the scheduling.
It’s a surprise how sudden it is.
Inero: Yeah, like, I don’t think the schedule is public yet. But we’re gonna fly tomorrow morning. So, I’m gonna go home from here, and pack. That’s the punishment for losing today. We all knew about it: if we lose, we have to fly tomorrow morning.
When, then, do you have time to review the LYON series?
Inero: I honestly don’t know yet. We just now talked as a team, already, I spoke to the boys. But when it comes to reviewing the series, we might be doing it on the flight, who knows? Probably when we land, we’ll talk about stuff. Everyone has content obligations right now, so can’t really meet and talk about it. It’ll come at some point over the next day. We’ve got a long flight, so maybe we have some time after that, after everyone’s watched it, to check it out.
What are your goals with the Americas Tournament?
Inero: Our goal is just to win. But, honestly, to get more comfortable with these stressful situations. We’re gonna have some time through the split no matter what, if we ever go to any international, where it can be a quick turnaround, kind of a shitty situation, where you do have to land, do all this stuff, be jetlagged, work through it. So, getting used to that together, finding ways to navigate it and make it easier for everyone, is a pretty big goal, because it preps up for any other international tournament down the line. That’s one of the primary goals outside of the basic one, of winning.”