Cloud9 returns to CS:GO with signing the Gambit roster
Topic: CS:GO Cloud9 signs Gambit players
On 24.04.2022 the legendary North American organization Cloud9 decided to sign the roster of Gambit. The squad, that recently played under the name of "Players", just secured their Legends spot at the PGL Major in Antwerp.
In the following article, you will get a perspective on Cloud9's history, the storyline, and evolution of nafany, sh1ro, A1xLe, interz and HObbit, as well as a preview of what's coming next for the lineup.
jAlex Andy PGL | Joao Ferreira
History of Cloud9 in CS:GO
The legendary American esport organisation was founded in 2013 and first entered CS:GO in August 2014 with the signing of Hiko, SEMPHIS, seang@res, n0thing and shroud who competed at the ESL One: Cologne 2014 Major as one of their first events together and ranked 5-8th!
From 2014 till 2019 the organisation had around 25 different, mostly North American, players under contract. Some of the most notable of these are Stewie2K, tarik, flusha, daps and RUSH. During that time the organisation took part in 68 S-Tier events according to Liquipedia and managed to win two of them. While the ESL Pro League Season 4 - Finals already were quite a statement in 2016, every CS:GO fan already knows what is coming now to top it off!
On the 28th of January 2018 at around 11 pm CET Cloud9 managed to win the ELEAGUE Major in Boston against FaZe Clan after already being down 11:15 on the third map Inferno. It's up to date still the only Major won by an American organisation and the legendary squad consisted of tarik, Stewie2K, Skadoodle, autimatic and RUSH!
Further evolution
At the start of 2020 Cloud9 acquired the lineup of ATK, consisting of: JT, motm, oSee, floppy and Sonic. The squad played a total of 13 events under the banner of Cloud9 until the organisation decided to rebuild their CS:GO division completely.
Cloud9 had the dream of rebuilding "The Colossus" with the help of the new general manager "HenryG" and "kassad" as the head coach. After signing ALEX, mezii and woxic, floppy joined the pack and es3tag completed the lineup. The debut of the team took place at Flashpoint Season 2 and around two months after the first signings of the new lineup.
The big FAIL
Starting with a last place finish in the first event, things didn't really get better for Cloud9. Only 1 1/2 months after their debut game the organisation decided to split ways with coach Aleksandar "kassad" Trifunović and a little later with Özgür "woxic" Eker.
After signing Xeppaa and the new head coach Elmapuddy in January and playing a total of four events together Cloud9 announced that they will pause their involvement in CS:GO at the end of March!
In the official statement, that you can also see below, they said following: "COVID has prevented us from assembling the team in North America as we'd originally planned, and though everyone has worked hard to rise to the challenge, the reality is that remote training isn't conducive for building an organization in the way Cloud9 usually does."
The Restart
Also stated in their announcement: "We remain passionate about competing in CS:GO, and once conditions allow us to work and train in the ways that we know help teams to be successful, we'll return to competitive play."
They stuck to that statement and revealed the signing of the Gambit roster, consisting of: Vladislav "nafany" Gorshkov, Dmitriy "sh1ro" Sokolov, Sergey "Ax1Le" Rykhtorov, Abai "HObbit" Hasenov & Konstantin "groove" Pikiner on 24.04.2022!
The signing had already been speculated over the last days, but the official announcement still came as a surprise to many! In the announcement article Cloud9 found following words:
"When we left the league, we always promised that we would be back. This week, we are returning to the scene with an iconic lineup. This collection of players have shown incredible promise and talent, and we are thrilled that we can continue to support their passions and careers. Cloud9 will help the team relocate and get settled, as well as providing the type of high-level support that comes with joining an established and winning organization." Source
The story of Gambit
Five talented players, one dream. The journey for nafany, sh1ro, interz, Ax1Le and HObbit within CS:GO started at different points, but a big breaking point for all of their careers was the promotion from the "Gambit Youngsters" to the main team of the legendary Russian organization that happened on the 05.10.2020!
Since then the players established themselves among the world's best and are consistent title contenders. With three S-Tier wins at the IEM Masters XV World Championship, the IEM XVI -Summer, and the BLAST Spring Finals 2021, as well as a 3rd-4th place at the PGL Major in Stockholm they proved their worth over the last 1 1/2 years and also bring a Legends spot at the PGL Major in Antwerp with them!
Conclusion
Cloud9 pulled off one of the biggest and most notable transfers in recent time and signed a world-class lineup that is able to win them trophies from Day 1.
What do you think about the transfer? Feel free to let us know on our Social Media. Thanks for reading and enjoy the rest of your week!
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