A big story that cropped up during the LCS offseason was the unexpected replacement of longtime Cloud9 AD carry Zachary “Sneaky” Scuderi and the rocky circumstances around his departure from the team. C9 star Eric “Licorice” Ritchie talked about what Sneaky’s departure means for the team in an interview with Travis Gafford today.
“We have the chance to have a newer, different team atmosphere because I think that when you have the same player on a team for a really long time, the team just is a certain way,” the 22-year-old top laner said. “From a player perspective, it’s more of a fresh slate where you can take whatever direction you think is best.”
When Sneaky parted ways with C9, rumors began to circulate about the issues within the roster. These speculations were fueled even further by the former pro ADC after he said that there were players on the team who didn’t want to play with him anymore. Licorice confirmed a few months ago that there were underlying problems within the 2019 C9 roster, but he’s now hopeful that this roster can find more success than previous iterations.
Over the past seven years, Sneaky remained one of the only constants on C9. His attitude and team-building style were incredibly unique—by putting a ton of focus on creating a family-like environment between teammates—and it helped create a team identity that many people fell in love with.
Related: Soul searching: Cloud9 needs to rediscover its identity in the 2020 LCS Spring Split
This year is going to be a completely new look for C9 and Licorice acknowledged that some fans aren’t going to be incredibly happy with the changes. But these changes might be what this team has needed to get over the hump and finally win the LCS.
C9 will play in the first match of the 2020 LCS Spring Split against Team Liquid at 4pm CT on Saturday, Jan. 25.
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