C9 vs TSM on a World Stage

Cloud 9 vs. Team Solo Mid

Or more specifically, “Why is Cloud 9 better equipped to succeed on a world stage?”

Team Solo Mid and Could 9, at first glance, appear to be very similar teams. They sport incredibly proficient players in every role; they have a strong support staff of coaches and analysts. But Cloud 9 has only lost one game to their (arguably) biggest rivals. One. In two splits, they have a nineteen and one record over Team Solo Mid.

If one took a look at the statistics, the teams are deadlocked. Each stands at a remarkable eighteen hundred gold per minute and an average of sixty-four thousand gold per game. The KDA match-up is actually in favor of TSM, partially due to Andy “Reginald” Dinh’s excellent coverage for Soren “Bjersen” Bjerg’s absence from the team mid-way through the season. Even so, the difference is minimal: 5.6 to 5.7.

Statistics do not describe the methodology of a victory for Team Solo Mid nor the war plan for Cloud 9. The difference that makes Cloud 9 a world class team lies within the style of each team’s play.

Team Solo Mid strives to outplay and overpower their opponents, either through lane dominance, excellent plays from early teamfights, or picks from Bjersen or Dyrus roaming the map. The strengths of this comp are never more clear than when they play against a team like Evil Geniuses. Evil Geniuses likes to bring in team compositions that confuse their opponents (Urgot/Soraka in the bottom lane, AP Nidalee top). Team Solo Mid never lost to Evil Geniuses this Spring Split. The lane power of Team Solo Mid was so much stronger than what Evil Geniuses could bring to bear that Evil Geniuses’ team composition was never able to build into its power spike.

But the weaknesses of Team Solo Mid’s comp are not just limited to their losses against Cloud 9. Despite barely sealing the win over Team Solo Mid, Coast brought to light a key weakness in Team Solo Mid’s strategy: If they lose two lanes, they can easily start to lose the game. Zion Spartan ended the game at 4/4/16, running a monstrous Shyvana rampant over Team SoloMid; Dyrus at a mere 2/5/7 on a very frail Trundle, by comparison. Even more outstanding is the comparison of Shiptur’s 12/1/10 Ahri over Bjersen’s 8/4/5 Gragas. Shiptur defeated the European star one-on-one, on more than a solitary instance. Coast, a middling to low level team, demonstrated Team Solo Mid’s weakness in coming back from a deficit. If Team Solo Mid does not come out ahead in the laning phase and gain momentum in the early to mid game, they have a very difficult time pulling out a win.

Cloud 9 has demonstrated the ability to win a game almost before the game begins. Taking a look at their games at IEM Katowice, especially their game against Chinese powerhouse World Elite, one can see Cloud 9’s remarkable ability to stick to a cohesive plan. World Elite, a team well known for its mechanically proficient play, ended up looking almost foolish when faced with Cloud 9’s “Black Shield” from Morgana and the “On the Hunt” from Sivir allowing Cloud 9 to disengage. Cloud 9 would simply walk away unscathed and reorganize against World Elite’s “wombo combo” initiate from Wukong’s “Cyclone” and Yasuo’s “Last Breath.” Cloud 9 stayed calm under pressure and forced the game back into the strategy that their team composition was built to dominate.

Losses are dealt to Cloud 9 by way of a failure to react appropriately. Fnatic (who has taken four more games off of Cloud 9 in a fraction of the total matches played than Team SoloMid) demonstrates their contention with Cloud 9 by the signature Fnatic trait: making excellent picks. Fnatic “monkey wrench”-es Cloud 9’s plans by forcing Cloud 9 to always play with a player down. The games that Fnatic wins against Cloud 9 are games where crowd control and vision allow Fnatic to prevent Cloud 9 from reorganizing and making teamfights occur the way Cloud 9’s composition needs. Fnatic wins with Leblanc and Pantheon allowing any misstep to be a lethal misstep. Cloud 9 lost when Thresh and Elise made isolated kills happen; then, Malphite forced a lop-sided initiation onto the downed Cloud 9 team immediately afterwards. “Wild Card Weakness” is a phrase that could be used to describe the chink in Cloud 9’s armor; exemplified by Fnatic making incredibly risky plays resulting Cloud 9 having difficulty predicting their opponent’s moves.

The difference that makes Cloud 9 a better contender across the world lies in how Cloud 9 loses. Cloud 9’s losses come from poor mid-game analysis. Analysis that they can easily repair; such as moving for objectives sooner when lining up against Fnatic or abusing Crumbzz’s risky jungle invasions when Dignitas tries to bring down another buzzkill. Across the way, Team SoloMid will find themselves knocking against a glass ceiling; they cannot simply hope to be mechanically stronger and intuitively better than the best teams in the world. Teams like Season 3 World Champions SK Telecom T1 K will not let them have the advantages they need to gain a lead and a victory on the Rift.

Team SoloMid has chosen to recruit even more talent to their roster, while Cloud 9 continues to keep their roster locked. Perhaps this new infusion of talent will be just what Team SoloMid needs to tip the scales in their favor; but, only time will tell who emerges victorious.