Lee "Loki" Sang-min, a player from Hanwha Life Esports Challengers, will debut in Tier 1 North America next year, according to sources from Sheep Esports. After failing to qualify for Worlds 2024, Cloud9 quickly began rebuilding their roster to replace departing stars.

It's clear that the organization is once again aiming high and striving for titles. Initially, another candidate was considered — Kang "Saint" Sung-in, a mid-laner for Dplus KIA Challengers.

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A New Path for Loki

Loki began his career in Korean competitive LoL in 2022, playing for HLE Academy, the third squad of Hanwha Life Esports. After one split in the LCK Academy Series, he was promoted to HLE Challengers, where he initially remained on the bench under Jo "Roamer" Woo-jin. In 2024, following Roamer’s move to Team Liquid Challengers, Loki became the starting mid-laner. In his first year in LCK Challengers, Loki performed well, finishing 4th in the spring playoffs and 6th in the summer playoffs. Among his most commonly used champions were Azir, Tristana, and Yone.

A Year of Disappointment for C9

2024 was supposed to be a year of triumph for Cloud9. With the return of Philippe "VULCAN" Laflamme and the arrival of Joseph "jojopyun" Pyun, the team was among the favorites in all pre-season rankings. However, inconsistent performances in the regular season and a third-place finish in the spring playoffs led to the replacement of Ibrahim "Fudge" Allami and the departure of coach Alfonso "Mithy" Aguirre Rodríguez. The team was strengthened by Park "Thanatos" Seung-gyu and coach Bok "Reapered" Han-gyu.

Despite improved results, Cloud9 couldn't maintain their form for long. During the summer playoffs, the team was eliminated after losses to FlyQuest and 100 Thieves. This season was a disappointment for the organization.

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A Period of Change

After the season ended, rumors spread that Kim "Berserker" Min-cheol was leaving the team, and later it was confirmed that Joseph "jojopyun" Pyun would be playing for KOI in the LEC. The loss of two key players forced Cloud9 to reconsider their roster for the next year. The first reinforcement was Jesper "Zven" Svenningsen, returning to the AD Carry position. Additionally, Nicholas "Inero" Smith joined the coaching staff. The final addition was Loki, who will take the mid-laner position.

Source: Sheep Esports