The American organization Cloud9, which has been competing in the European region, had been absent from the Dota 2 competitive scene for the past three years. However, in 2024, their revamped roster returned to the professional scene and secured good placements at the prestigious tournament, The International 2024. To celebrate this achievement, the organization released a documentary, which we will discuss below.

Departure from the Dota 2 competitive scene

Back in April 2020, Cloud9 made a significant announcement regarding their future. The organization decided to leave the Dota 2 competitive scene without providing specific reasons. Detailed information about this can be found on their official website via the link provided.

Today, Cloud9 announces its departure from the DOTA 2 competitive scene. All members of our club are ready to be signed by other organizations. We would like to thank all the DOTA 2 team members for their efforts over the past few months and wish them success in the next stage of their careers. We also want to thank the fans who supported our DOTA 2 team this year.

Return and early results

Despite the statement, Cloud9 made a return to the Dota 2 competitive scene at the beginning of 2024. The organization signed the entire Entity roster and officially announced their comeback and participation in upcoming tournaments.

Their first event as the revamped Cloud9 roster was the FISSURE Universe: Episode 3, where the team finished in 5th-6th place and didn’t earn any prize money. Despite this, the organization had already secured a spot at The International 2024, as Entity had won The International 2024: Western Europe Closed Qualifier in early July 2024, securing a slot in the upcoming event. Since Cloud9 acquired the entire Entity roster, they directly inherited the slot.

Performance at The International and the documentary

At the main event of the year, Cloud9 performed well. The team successfully finished the group stage with a 2-1 record and advanced to the playoffs. In the first match, they defeated Aurora Gaming 2-0. However, things took a downturn after that: in the upper bracket semifinals, they lost to Team Liquid 0-2, and in the lower bracket quarterfinals, they lost to Team Falcons 0-2, exiting the tournament. As a result, Cloud9 finished 5th-6th at The International 2024, earning $91,000 in prize money.

This result is impressive for an organization that hadn’t been involved in the Dota 2 competitive scene for the past three years. To commemorate this, Cloud9 released a documentary titled “We're Finally Back To The International,” which premiered on the organization’s official YouTube channel. In the 35-minute video, you can discover interesting moments from the players’ preparation for the main event, hear their comments, and much more.

READ MORE: Completion of the G2xiG Journey

In summary, the current competitive season has been successful for Cloud9. Despite relatively modest prize earnings, the organization made a strong statement about its return to the Dota 2 competitive scene and backed it up with solid results at The International.