'No more Band-Aids': Cloud9 Kia's Split 2 starts with a statement
Cloud9 Kia opened LCS Split 2 with a 2-1 win over LYON, but coach Nicolas "Inero" Smith and support Philippe "Vulcan" Laflamme say the result was never the point. Here's what the win revealed about where this team is actually headed.
Cloud9 Kia celebrates its 2-1 victory against LYON on Saturday at Riot Games Arena in Los Angeles. The end of Cloud9 Kia's Split 1 didn't go how they drew it up. The team finished 1-3 in its final four matches, and with each loss fixes were put in – but they were temporary.
The time away to reset and regroup allowed Cloud9 to start working on what really happened at the end of Split 1. Cloud9 kicked off LCS Split 2 with a 2-1 victory against Split 1 champion LYON at Riot Games Arena on Saturday. "No more band aids.
Just real fixes," Cloud9 support Philippe "Vulcan" Laflamme said. In the closing moments of the team's Game 3 win, most of Cloud9's roster was treading backward to prepare for the next fight. But top laner Park "Thanatos" Seung-gyu had other ideas.
"He was like, 'I'm TPing base guys, fight, I'm TPing base,'" Laflamme said. "So yeah, I guess it took us by surprise a little bit that he didn't come to fight for us, but it was the right call. " As Park committed to the base, Laflamme's Bard pushed forward but was eliminated before reaching it.