This past offseason, Cloud9 said goodbye to multiple key players on its League of Legends roster, including longtime veteran AD carry, Zachary “Sneaky” Scuderi. It was shocking to most fans, but top laner Eric “Licorice” Ritchie explained that this might be a way for the team to reshape its path for 2020.
In an interview with LCS host James “Dash” Patterson, Licorice said that when a team makes such a drastic change with its roster, the new players can reflect on its past to improve its future. He mentioned how there were good and bad things about C9’s dynamic when Sneaky was on the team, for example.
“You get the opportunity to go in with a new roster to change [some of the things that weren’t working], and you get to remake the team dynamic and team culture,” Licorice said. “You get permission to make it the way you want it.”
Sneaky and Licorice had been teammates since the start of 2018 when he was brought up from the team’s challenger squad at the time. Together, they were able to almost always finish among the top three teams in the league but were never able to capture that elusive LCS championship.
Related: Memelords never die: Cloud9 will always be known as Sneaky’s team
With Sneaky, the team constantly had this family-like atmosphere that helped attract so many fans to the organization. But the team started to see key players leave after constant failures at the regional level.
Sneaky and Licorice’s relationship isn’t in the best of spots after the former left the team, but the latter does hope that a new beginning is what this team has needed after starving for an LCS championship for over six years.
Cloud9 will look to continue their undefeated start to the 2020 LCS Spring Split when they take on TSM on Feb. 15 at 5pm CT.
