Almost four years ago in the summer of 2013, a rookie supernova known as Cloud9 blazed its trail through the North American LCS, changing what was thought to be the hierarchy in the region. Established brands and new challengers were both ushered away in the same manner, and C9 went on to finish the regular season 25-3 before going undefeated in the playoffs to become a champion in its first season as a club.
In the spring of 2017, C9 might be at its best since its inaugural season, the only member remaining from the 2013 starting lineup, Zachary "Sneaky" Scuderi, still starting at the AD carry position. Three of the five original C9 starters are now at the head of another esports club making its debut in the NA LCS, with former longtime C9 captain Hai Lam trading in his blue and white uniform for one shining in gold. And just as he did in his first season as a professional, Hai has brought his rookie club into the limelight early, going 5-1 through the first three weeks of the regular-season.
Hai's mid lane replacement on C9, Dane Nicolaj "Jensen" Jensen, has had an MVP-winning first quarter of the season, leading all starting mid laners in KDA (kill/death/assist ratio), CS Differential at 10, and only trailing one in total kills to the person who helped him adjust to Cloud9: Hai. On Sunday, the two teams, dubbed by the fans Cloud9 Blue (C9) and Cloud9 White (FlyQuest), will head to Summoner's Rift, a battle between the C9 of the new era and the C9 of the old era, two philosophies and styles clashing, with Jensen and Hai in the middle of it, and a possible first-place standing almost halfway into the season on the line.
This Sunday, a new rivalry will be born.
"I've been putting in a lot more work, and it definitely also helps that I have a really strong roster," Jensen said. "I think we have some of the best players at their [respective] positions, and we've improved a lot from the course of Worlds up until now. So I think it's a mix of everything: we look better as a team, so I look better as a player."
Jensen highlighted rookie jungler Juan "Contractz" Garcia as one of the key points to C9's success at the beginning of the year. Jensen believed he had an instant chemistry with the 17-year-old jungler, the two pairing up to make countless kill plays during the first three weeks of the season.
"We're both really good at the game, so it's easy to work with [Contractz]," Jensen said. Over his first 11 games Contractz has already amassed 61 kills and 102 assists, putting him third and second in those statistical categories per his position, respectively.
"I think [FlyQuest] are a team that work well together as a team," he said. "But I think on an individual level they are much weaker than us. So I think like FlyQuest can easily pick up wins over teams that don't work well together or are bad mechanically, but I think against a good team like us they don't stand a chance."
The highlighted matchup will be in the middle lane between the former captain Hai and his replacement Jensen. Throughout the first six matches, there is a strong case that the two are No. 1 and No. 2, however you'd like to rank them, in the MVP race in North America.
"It's [going to] be interesting," Jensen said. "He's a really good leader and really smart when it comes to the game. I think we're also both cocky players, so there might be some interesting matchups coming out. But I think I have the upper hand against Hai."
Other than the pairings on the field, it'll also be a battle between shot-calling philosophies. Hai, a dominant shot-caller, became famous with his in-game leader style of shot-calling on C9, helping them get to three straight World Championships under his tactical knowhow. Since leaving, C9 has adopted the opposite philosophy, democratic shot-calling, where teams have multiple shot-callers and use the approach of believing five heads are better than one.
"I think democratic [shot-calling] is better because one man can't see the situation for every player at each position [and] what's best for them," he said. "So I think democratic is much better, in my own opinion, because me and Impact work really well together."
It's become an unexpected attraction after FlyQuest's ascension in the early weeks through Hai's guidance and the emergence of Galen "Moon" Holgate in the jungle position. Whether you're wearing the blue and white of the original Cloud9 or the white and gold of the old guard on FlyQuest, Sunday's meeting has shaped up to be a barnburner.
"I don't think C9 fans have anything to worry about, and I want to apologize to the FlyQuest fans in advance," Jensen said.