In North American esports, there are few names as synonymous with success as Cloud9. But its most recent Dota 2 roster is falling short of the mark.
Following a loss to Quincy Crew at the BTS Pro Series: Americas yesterday, EternaLEnVy’s team has lost its first 10 series since C9 announced its new roster in March. They’ve won just two games out of the 22 they’ve played at the Dota Summit 12, WeSave! Charity Play, and the BTS Pro Series.
The team is 0-3 right now at the BTS Pro Series. They still have a small chance of qualifying for the playoffs, provided they win the rest of their games and the other results go their way. It wouldn’t be the first time that EnVy’s team had a dramatic turnaround in the group stage, after all.
The results are honestly puzzling, though. Even based on just the roster alone, they have one of the best off laners in North America in Jingjun “Sneyking” Wu, along with new recruit Marcus “Ace” Hoelgaard, previously of Team Secret, backed up by veterans like MISERY and pieliedie. For a team with so many known players, getting off to such a poor start is unprecedented.
When C9 announced its intent to return to the Dota 2 scene in January, all eyes inevitably turned to EternaLEnVy. While the player has been embroiled in controversy ranging from his public matchmaking shenanigans to kicking the same player twice on two different teams, C9’s highest points in Dota 2 were climbed with the aid of the Canadian player.
Maybe the team being stuck in such a deep valley is just an indication of what’s to come. C9 and EnVy were one of the most consistent teams in the North American region before, often the only challenger to a dominant Evil Geniuses. Now, more teams have joined the fray and C9 has an uphill battle to return to its winning ways.
