League of Legends Community Seeks Answers After Cloud9 Releases LS Abruptly

Cloud 9 (C9) has released Nick “LS” De Cesare from his position of head coach of the C9 League of Legends team. The League of Legends community initially thought it was a joke that was made in poor taste, but soon realized that LS was actually let go just four games into C9's LCS (League of Legends Championship Series) 2022 run. The team has promoted Max Waldo as head coach of the team. In his short stint at the LCS, LS was hailed for his creative drafts by the community, which expressed that his drafts in C9 made LCS enjoyable after a long time.

Fans were left confused and shocked when the team made the announcement, as Cloud9 had already made its way onto the LCS stage for the match against Counter Logic Gaming on 19th Feb. The community was left to scramble for answers as C9 did not detail why it released LS within such a short period of time.

LS shared on Twitter that he was informed of C9’s move four hours prior to the announcement. He wished the team the best of luck and wrote, “I set out to show some things were possible (gameplay/draft/etc) & in that short time I believe we were able to show a glimpse of it. Even though the journey ends, I still feel satisfied that the team & players were able to showcase what we had, and knowing a lot more was possible.”

Social media reacts to LS’ release

Several broadcast talent and members of the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) and the League of Legends European Championship (LEC) expressed their shock regarding the announcement by C9. James “Dash” Patterson, Clayton “CaptainFlowers” Raines, Marc “Caedrel” Lamont, and Eefje “Sjokz” Depoortere were swift to record their confusion over the situation.

CaptainFlowers commented on the Cloud9 Twitter handle, “BRO WAT,” while Dash posted a GIF of himself reflecting upon the situation.

The community also made a copypasta about LS’ sudden release from the LCS team: “LS aka Leaving Suddenly was released from Cloud 9 eSports after coaching 4 games with them over the span of 3 weeks,” which has been doing the rounds on Twitch broadcasts and Twitter.

Position and strategic coach for C9 Marius "Veigar v2" Aune expressed his anguish over the turn of events.

Veigar v2 also urged fans to change their Twitter profile pictures to Liandry’s Torment in honor of LS. He wrote, “This isn't a protest against C9, just showing a friend some love. I hope you all will still support me, max, and the rest of the staff and players.”

Liandry’s Torment is synonymous with LS and there is a running joke in the community which calls him Liandry’s Salesman. As the meme became very viral, Riot Games also incorporated it into the game. When one searches for “last shadow (LS)” in the shop, Liandry’s Torment shows up.

T1’s CEO Joe Marsh expressed his support for LS on Twitter and wrote, “When one door closes, 600 will open for you.”

The community also made a meme out of the original “Church of C9 and Mass is on weekends” statements.

Amidst all the comments, a congressman from Portugal shared his insights on the C9-LS situation. CaptainFlowers wrote on Twitter, “This is WORLDWIDE NEWS lmao a congressman from Portugal is even in on how wild the situation with C9 and LS is.”

Meanwhile on the League of Legends Pro League (LPL) broadcast, Jake "Hysterics" Osypenko jibed at Cloud 9 for releasing LS.

In an interview with Travis Gafford, C9’s mid-laner Ibrahim "Fudge" Allami weighed in on the state of affairs.

Plans for Cloud 9 post LS’ release

Despite the recent controversy surrounding Cloud9, it successfully closed out the game against TSM on 20th Feb and ended the LCS 2022 Spring Split with a 4-2 record. While Travis Gafford and LCS personality Mark "MarkZ" Zimmerman questioned Max Waldo about the future of Cloud 9 and its surprise picks, Waldo stated that the goal was to play standard picks very well. He added, “Even under the premise of LS being here, we weren't just going to draft crazy champions every week.”

The abrupt nature of his removal has caused a lot of speculation. Cloud9 is yet to divulge any other details of LS being let go. For now, fans can follow Cloud9 on its LCS journey which seems to be going in the right direction.

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