Cloud9 sign the former Gambit Roster. The legendary organization will debut the new roster at the PGL Antwerp Major.
After 394 days without a team, NA's only Major winning organization, Cloud9 has marked a return to CS:GO with the signing of the Gambit roster. The organization announced the signing of all 5 players alongside the coach, analyst, and manager.
The colossus failure
Cloud9's last project in CS:GO was the ill-fated international squad, monikered the Colossus. With the pandemic and 5 different nationalities on the roster, the team was never able to Bootcamp together. Despite the presence of big names like ALEX and Es3tag, the team never found the consistency that an organization like C9 strives for and ended up being disbanded in early 2021.
Tough situation for players
The Gambit squad had been up for sale since March in the aftermath of Russia's ongoing invasion into Ukraine, which caused tournament organizers such as ESL and PGL to ban organizations with perceived ties to the Russian government from being represented in their tournaments. This meant that Gambit and Virtus.Pro rosters were forced to play under neutral tags.
With the future for the team uncertain, Gambit played under the name of "Players" and made playoffs at EPL. More importantly, the roster locked in a Legends spot at the PGL Antwerp Major, after going 3-0 in the PGL Europe RMR B.
Cloud9 sign Gambit- A true colossus
While the original Colossus may have been an international mix bag, this time the org has actually struck gold. Gambit, currently ranked Number 3 in the world, is one of the strongest teams in the world. After emerging at IEM Katowice, they went on to dominate the entire scene for the better part of 6 months.
Even after the rise of their CIS elder in NaVi, Gambit remained the second-best team in the world. Since then they have been slowly acquiring the much-needed LAN experience and competing in the playoffs of every big event. Now under Cloud9, it looks like it's time for the team to shine.
Cloud9 return to the Top 5
When we left the league, we always promised that we would be back. This week, we are returning to the scene with an iconic lineup. This collection of players have shown incredible promise and talent, and we are thrilled that we can continue to support their passions and careers. Cloud9 will help the team relocate and get settled, as well as providing the type of high-level support that comes with joining an established and winning organization.
The singing is a huge positive for both parties. For Cloud9 this is the first time they have been in the top 5 teams of the world since March 2018, shortly after the Boston Major. After 3 years the iconic blue logo will be at the top of CS as the game returns to a regular LAN circuit. With the already secured Major spot, C9 will once again have stickers at the Major.
The players will get all the benefits of playing for a big organization. They will get the support that only someone like Cloud9 can provide and will also have access to resources that they otherwise wouldn't have in a small org like Gambit.
Expectations for the Roster
The roster is currently one of the best in the world. Now under the C9 brand, they will be expected to continue their strong performance at every major, most importantly at the upcoming Major. A top 4 finish would be the bar for them as Vitality, G2, etc continue to struggle. And with the upcoming IEM Dallas, C9 would love to put on a great show for the domestic NA fans.
With this signing, Cloud9's roster is:
- Abay “Hobbit” Khassenov (player)
- Dmitrii “sh1ro” Sokolov (player)
- Sergei “Ax1Le” Rykhtorov (player)
- Vladislav “nafany” Gorshkov (player)
- Timofei “interz” Iakushin (player)
- Konstantin “groove” Pikiner (coach)
- Ivan “F_1N” Kochugov (analyst)
- Aleksandr “Sweetypotz” Scherbakov (manager)
Stay tuned to Esports.gg to keep up with the results for this Cloud9 roster and Watch the squad as they debut at the PGL Antwerp Major.