groove: "We'll continue [to play without a sniper]"

Cloud9's coach addressed the team's AWP-less approach and pointed to lack of practice as a possible reason behind their poor results in the UAE.

Early on following the departure of Dmitry "⁠sh1ro⁠" Sokolov from the roster and introduction of Kirill "⁠Boombl4⁠" Mikhailov as the new in-game leader, Cloud9's results improved at first, but since then cracks have begun to appear.

During disappointing runs at BetBoom Dacha and the BLAST Premier World Final, which ended in fifth-sixth place at both events, the lack of a primary AWPer has become a big point of criticism of the Russian side.

In a comment to James "⁠BanKs⁠" Banks on the BLAST broadcast following their elimination in Abu Dhabi, Cloud9's coach, groove, addressed that approach and said they would continue with it.

"We are trying to play without a sniper. We will continue," he said. "Yeah, we know to play without a main AWP is a problem, but anyway you can still be on the top level. Here we didn't even show our real level of the game."

The 40-year-old also went into the reasons behind their poor results, noting a lack of practice while in the United Arab Emirates, where both events took place.

"We have one big problem because we went to the [BetBoom Dacha] event in Dubai, that's why we didn't practice for 10 or 11 days in a row, because in Emirates you can't play FACEIT, you can't play any mix, you can't play praccs. Maybe this affected our results because 10 days in a row is a lot."

groove's comments come at a time when it has become clear that the return of sh1ro to the roster is not an option. Following his decision to step down from Cloud9 in late October, the 22-year-old AWPer has now committed to a move to Spirit, according to HLTV's sources.

Read more

Sources: sh1ro set on Spirit move