Cloud9 has today announced its new League of Legends roster ahead of the 2025 LTA North season. After a poor showing in 2024 despite on paper having a star-studded roster, C9 failed to make a single international event -- Cloud9 was upset by 100 Thieves in the final qualification match for Worlds 2024, ending their season early.

How Cloud9 operated in the offseason

After failing to qualify for Worlds, all eyes were on Cloud9 to make a big splash heading into the 2025 season. The first on the rift news came when Jesper "Zven" Svenningsen was reported by Sheep Esports to be returning to the organization after spending a single split on Dignitas. With the shocking departure of Joseph "Jojopyun" Pyun, C9 were in need of a mid laner.

This is when Sheep Esports reported C9 had found their man in the form of Lee "Loki" Sang-min, a LCKCL player, the second to be acquired by C9 in the space of a year after the arrival of Park "Thanatos" Seung-gyu. Loki isn't regarded as the best prospect to come from the developmental league, so it will be interesting to see how they perform next season.

Expectations for Cloud9

For Cloud9, they are going to have to greatly improve if they have any hopes of making an international event next year. With the LTA North only getting two spots for MSI, Worlds, and one spot for First Stand, the newest event, those spots are expected to be covered by Team Liquid and FlyQuest, two squads who excelled last year, winning a split each and also having promising international performances.

C9 lacked a noticeable playing identity with the team struggling once it got to the latter stages of games. It was evident in their 3-1 series against FlyQuest. C9 had noticeable leads in multiple games against FLY, a team that went on to win the LCS and come within touching distance of beating Gen.G, taking them to five games. But were unable to convert any of those leads into victories. C9 was extremely readable as the game progressed and that will be their biggest challenge coming into the offseaon.