Cloud9 fans might want to sit down for this one: this age-old North American organization will field one of the most perplexing line-ups in 2022 and, needless to say, it’s not what anyone expected. We’re so taken aback with this one that we’re still not sure how we feel. It’s either the most ingenious experiment from the boys in white and blue or a trainwreck waiting to happen.

Either way, it’s worth taking a look at! Just keep in mind that nothing has been made official just yet and things can definitely change over the next few hours!

Top Lane: Park “Summit” Woo-tae (formerly of Liiv SANDBOX)

Jungle: Robert “Blaber” Huang

Mid Lane: Ibrahim “Fudge” Allami

AD Carry: Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen (not a done deal just yet)

Support: Jonah “Isles” Rosario (more likely) or Mitchell “Destiny” Shaw

This was first reported by esports journalist Travis Gafford and, well, it’s quite the curve ball. The bigger twist is, undoubtedly, Fudge’s role swap to mid. That one really came out of nowhere. There have been reports of Cloud9 trying to bring in different mid laners including Søren “Bjergsen” Bjerg and Yasin “Nisqy” Dinçer, but neither signing went through for whatever reason.

We still don’t know whether Fudge planned on role swapping or if he was “forced” to do so given the circumstances. Either way, it’s not going to be the best of starts for Cloud9 in 2022, even though this talented OCE player has earned our benefit of the doubt. Now, Cloud9 are no strangers to going for weird roster shuffles and outlandish signings, but this time they might have gone a bit too far. It might pan out if Fudge keeps improving at his current pace but filling in Luka “Perkz” Perković’s shoes is no easy task, to say the least.

We’re also not too sure about Summit either. He’s a stellar play that is horrendously underrated by the community, but it’s highly debatable whether he’ll offer anything to Cloud9 that Fudge couldn’t. In that sense he’s more of a sidegrade — at best. The fact that Cloud9 will now all of a sudden have to deal with a language barrier only further complicates things, and we’re not fully convinced that Summit is “worth the effort,” especially given just how incredible Fudge has been throughout the year.

Color us perplexed.

A New Head Coach

Nick “LS” De Cesare, a man who needs no introduction, might become Cloud9’s new head coach, as per Travis Gafford. One could argue that this news — which is as far from confirmed as it gets — is equally as surprising as the two aforementioned roster changes.

LS is an absolute strategic mastermind, and if Cloud9 really do end up bringing him on that would no doubt be a “W” for the ages. And, well, if he came up with this whole experiment, we’re definitely willing to give him our full benefit of the doubt!

In any case, we’ll find out what happens soon enough.