Stat check: Cloud9 finally settle on a five

A difficult three-month rebuild is complete, so what is the new Cloud9's ceiling?

Cloud9's move for Denis "⁠electroNic⁠" Sharipov and Ilya "⁠Perfecto⁠" Zalutskiy was supposed to change things for the better. The duo were known quantities, Major champions with Natus Vincere, and fit their new team's positions like a glove.

But we all learned a lesson from them last year. First, Cloud9 lacked a true in-game leader as electroNic struggled with the role. Then, once Dmitry "⁠sh1ro⁠" Sokolov departed the team, they lacked a true AWPer.

Sniper and captain are the two most important roles in the game. Even a rifle core of Sergey "⁠Ax1Le⁠" Rykhtorov (albeit not in his best form), Abay "⁠HObbit⁠" Khassenov, electroNic, and Perfecto could not overcome Cloud9's holes in those areas.

So, the superteam failed. What now? It is immediately obvious that Cloud9 are not shopping off the top shelf. Spirit and Virtus.pro are both unpoachable, but so are some of the teams directly below them.

According to a post by insider Aleksei "⁠OverDrive⁠" Birukov on Telegram, the list of players who rejected trials for Cloud9 include Timur "⁠clax⁠" Sabirov, Aleksandr "⁠zorte⁠" Zagodyrenko, Kirill "⁠Magnojez⁠" Rodnov, Artem "⁠ArtFr0st⁠" Kharitonov, and Aleksandr "⁠shalfey⁠" Marenov. Good players, but hardly household names.

In the end, with help from Dmitry "⁠hooch⁠" Bogdanov, Konstantin "⁠groove⁠" Pikiner got his men.

Nikita "⁠HeavyGod⁠" Martynenko, who has both Ukrainian and Russian heritage, was the first man to sign up and is a big coup as a specialist anchor with a 1.16 rating in 2024 (though that drops to 1.03 on LAN).

Kaisar "⁠ICY⁠" Faiznurov, a raw but talented Kazakh teenager, controversially arrived from AMKAL to take over the AWP.

Finally, Timofey "⁠interz⁠" Yakushin, the support player from the old Gambit Youngsters core, returns to play with his former teammate Ax1Le.

Immediately, the composition presents questions. Ax1Le and HeavyGod are similar players on the CT side, overqualified anchors who both take up similar spots: A on Ancient, Pit on Inferno, B on Vertigo, and so on.

The addition of interz, a pure supportive element, also means it is not as simple as one of Ax1Le or HeavyGod just swapping a big site anchor role for a small site. One of the three has to take up the star rotation positions, if not two.

This is true on the T side, as well, where all three riflers were lurkers in the first half of 2024.

Ax1Le and HeavyGod are both fairly aggressive when necessary, but the former has more of a star space-taker profile akin to that of players who have dominated in CS2. At his 2020-22 peak, when he was among the top five in the Top 20 Player of the Year awards in 2021 and 2022, Ax1Le was commonly compared to Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač, and for good reason.

It is easier to imagine Ax1Le solo-taking places like Banana on Inferno and Middle on Ancient than his new Israeli teammate.

In the PUGs they have played together as a five, however, the role has been shared: Ax1Le is the Middle aggressor on Ancient, but HeavyGod has been taking Middle on Mirage, and Kirill "⁠Boombl4⁠" Mikhailov was the primary Outside player on Nuke.

There have been shuffles on the CT side, too. Ax1Le has moved from Short to Conn on Mirage, and A to Middle on Ancient in a clear designation of star status. This may change, given that these are only casual games, but it does paint a picture of the role overlap. Not many teams that share roles around on the T side reach maximum comfort in them.

The new five's trading profile helps explain some of this: HeavyGod is a lone wolf, preferring to be alone and scoring low in traded kills and traded deaths.

Ax1Le, by contrast, is in the top right of the chart, where we usually find players like Danil "⁠donk⁠" Kryshkovets. This suggests he will go in front of their teammates if it is favorable (and thus get plenty of traded deaths) and behind when it is not (giving him lots of trade kills, too).

interz, as we have said, is that primary support and will happily entry into bomb sites from his lurker roles. Boombl4's aggression needs no introduction.

This data suggests that Ax1Le is a more natural map control player than HeavyGod, as he would be able to take space solo or bait Boombl4 for some easy frags.

Ax1Le is also more aggressive in terms of openers than HeavyGod, though their proximity on this chart shows they are both capable of opening.

Ultimately, we will have to wait and see, but these two charts show why positions are not the be-all and end-all. HeavyGod and Ax1Le share multiple positions, but that does not mean they are identical players.

HeavyGod deserves more of a deep dive. The 21-year-old took the well-trodden path out of Israeli CS to Endpoint before signing for OG in January of this year and quickly impressed despite his team's struggles.

HeavyGod earned a 1.11 rating overall despite losing more maps than he won. He was particularly impressive on Ancient (1.25 rating), Mirage (1.22), and Anubis (1.20), and won 27 clutches in his 71 map sample.

We have mentioned his drop-off on LAN, where a 0.83 rating during his BLAST Spring Groups debut in January hurts his average, but he did post 1.10 ratings at the PGL Major Copenhagen RMR and GET Rio.

The question is: What zenith can HeavyGod reach in this Cloud9 lineup? With Ax1Le likely to change roles and ICY being such a diamond in the rough, the pressure will be on HeavyGod to deliver the star power the team needs — a tough ask.

Still, his talent shouldn't be overlooked. Posting 81 ADR in a team that struggled as much as OG did should not be underestimated, even if some of it comes from a bit of baiting his less talented teammates.

As far as question marks go, there aren't many. There is a reason he was at the top of many people's lists as a replacement for Felipe "⁠skullz⁠" Medeiros on Liquid or Nemanja "⁠nexa⁠" Isaković on G2.

The title of biggest question mark goes to ICY, the AWPer Cloud9 selected after trying out Beksultan "⁠khaN⁠" Ospan and being denied by zorte and ArtFr0st.

ICY had a decent RMR debut, including a 28-frag showing against Falcons, but his rookie status was obvious throughout and his coach didn't let him off the hook after their elimination.

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svyat: "ICY's really good individually but makes a lot of mistakes"

"ICY is our biggest talent at the moment, he has a lot of potential," AMKAL's coach, Svyatoslav "⁠svyat⁠" Dovbakh, said. "He has a very cold head, a cold mind, and he keeps calm in hard situations. He's really good individually but makes a lot of mistakes that cost our team rounds.

"I guess we just need to work with him together, me and him, to improve him because he is not ready to play at big events at the moment. He really has good potential. I'm sure he'll be ready in half a year or so."

It was hardly a ringing endorsement for a player whose talent was already attracting attention, and the 19-year-old also got in hot water for how he departed AMKAL. The organization launched an investigation into his conduct, allegedly for trying out with Cloud9 without his team's permission. It ultimately came to nothing when an agreement was reached for his transfer.

But ICY did not earn a 1.14 rating against top 20 opponents over 22 maps this year by accident.

He will provide the AWPing presence that Cloud9 lacked so much since sh1ro's departure, a true sniper with 47.2% of his 2024 kills coming with the big green.

That amounts to a multi-kill with the AWP in 9% of rounds, and an opener with the sniper in 6% (meaning two-thirds of his openers come on the AWP). He is also an able trade-fragger (0.17 per round) and has the talent to hit the tricky re-frags after following the pack into a bomb site.

A lot of his traits are ones you expect from a modern sniper. He's fairly passive, throws a lot of utility during executes, is very calm in the clutch, and is more about posting up for easy kills than outrageous Ilya "⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov-style flicks.

Cloud9's ceiling as a team will largely depend on how far ICY can develop. The team's template for success is a stable base of fragging from HeavyGod, Ax1Le enjoying a resurgence in new roles, and ICY providing the clutches and round-winning multi-frags that his $4750 weapon demands.

There is also a huge onus on Boombl4. Even if that trio does perform well, this is not a team with the firepower to make deep runs without an exceptional tactical base.

It's a rebuild that is far less glamorous than spending a couple of millions on electroNic and Perfecto, and it's not one that will excite the organization's core North American fanbase.

Instead, these are sensible transfers in a difficult market where Cloud9 was not an organization able to get their first choices. The core's age has been slashed to 22.6, and there's plenty of resale value in the high-potential duo of HeavyGod and ICY.

Being a general manager in CS these days ultimately boils down to two scenarios: Go all-out to win everything, or spend as little as possible on a team that will still qualify for the Major and earn the coveted sticker money. Cloud9 tried the first, and now they are trying the second.