Last night, Cloud9 announced via Twitter the departure of his top laner Eric “Licorice” Ritchie. According to ESPN Esports his replacement has already been found since two members of the academic roster could join the LCS team: Ibrahim “Fudge” Allami and Kim ReignOver “Yeu-jin”.
The League of Legends transfer window continues across the Atlantic. Last night, Cloud9 announced the departure of its top laner Eric “Licorice” Ritchie after three years as a starter in his LCS roster. The news came after an article by Jacob Wolf of ESPN Esports revealed that academy top laner Ibrahim “Fudge” Allami and head coach Kim “ReignOver” Yeu-jin could join the team premiered in 2021.
Cloud9 told me last week that I won’t be a part of the team in 2021. I’m so proud I could help bring the trophy home for all of the C9 fans while I was here. Changing teams is part of being a pro and I’m ready to compete with a new team next year.
— Licorice (@Licorice) October 19, 2020
League of Legends: The new Cloud9
Licorice’s adventure with Cloud9’s LCS team began in November 2017 – he replaced Jung ” Impact ” Eon-yeong who has since played for Team Liquid. Considered by many to be one of the best top laners in the region, leading the LCS to their best result at the World Championships – the semi-finals in 2018 – and through to the group stage in 2019.
Cloud9’s 2020 season had started on a good note, with just one loss in the Spring Split regular season, he had won the playoffs with flying colours and logically clinched the title – a title he had no longer achieved since the Summer split of 2014. However, after a thunderous 8-0 start in the summer segment, the tide has turned for the team. And even if she finishes second in the regular season, the playoffs will be their home. With a fourth-place, the structure misses its qualification for the worlds – a first since season 3.
As the organization considered its options for 2021, Riot Games’ announcement of the closure of the Oceanic Pro League (OPL) and the possibility for its players to count as residents in the LCS allowed them to promote Fudge in the main roster. If the OPL had remained active, they would not have been able to line it up as they already have Yasin ” Nisqy ” Dinçer and Jesper ” Zven ” Svenningsen, two European imports in the team.
HYPED!
Meanwhile, the organization has reportedly promoted coach ReignOver and toplaner Ibrahim ” Fudge ” Allami from their academy team to their LCS team according to Jacob Wolf of ESPN Esports. ReignOver and Fudge have enjoyed a successful season in the academy league as they finished first in both the regular season and the playoffs throughout 2020.
With Licorice leaving, Robert ” Blaber ” Huang is the only remaining member of the 2018 Worlds semi-finalists squad. Among the rest of the squad, Nicolaj ” Jensen ” Jensen was most successful with two LCS titles and participation in the MSI Finals in 2019. Dennis “Svenskeren” Johnsen and Tristan “Zeyzal” Stidam left for Evil Geniuses in late 2019, and Zachary “Sneaky” Scuderi stepped down as a player before 2020.
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