Not dead last this time, but not good enough to guarantee a spot in the next Major. They needed a change, and all eyes were on its oldest members. On August 15, 2017, just a month after their catastrophic Major exit, Cloud9 dropped Shroud and n0thing, the last remaining founding member of C9’s CS:GO team.
"And so I had a feeling it was one or the other, it was either we were going to make a change with someone else, or we're gonna make a change with you. So he said it, I said "Alright baby, that's all I need to know." It almost was a relief because we were almost in this limbo for a while as a team. We needed something to change https://ecotourisme.org/gambling-stock-does-well-in-january/. Shroud, for his part, had been talking about retirement for over a year, and was ready to live the streaming lifestyle. "In my eyes, I'm actually set for 2018." "Are you trolling?" "No I'm serious, I've told pretty much everyone this. Like one more solid year." But n0thing approached things differently. He had been playing CS professionally for over a decade when he got benched, for perhaps the first time in his entire life. He had gone from wunderkind superstar, to early CS:GO adopter, to beloved personality and then all of a sudden, people thought he was washed up. "Kind of sad to see n0thing go out, but I guess, like even if you're a critic of Tarik Tarik for n0thing obviously still feels like an upgrade for me, and Rush I think is f*cking mental. I think he's insanely good." Meanwhile, his contract with Cloud9 meant that he wasn’t able to play for another team until May 2018, nearly a year away. So he decided to double down on bringing his personality to the fans. "About to go zipline, we're about to go eat lunch actually. She's pretty scared. I've done it before done in South America?" "Well it's going to be fun, so hopefully we get some good shots on the helmet. If not I'll be really sad, maybe I'll sneak the gopro in my pocket if I can't fit it on the mount. And then just whip it out and record." That meant more streaming (Stream) And even getting in front of the camera as an analyst. "Dude VP's always had for quite a while a playbook. When they were in their prime it was pretty wild to play them on maps like Cobble cause they almost had a different playbook depending on who they played." But while he was re-defining his identity in the CS scene, Cloud9 was redefining their own identity in CS. "I don't expect us to win every tournament, I don't expect us to make it out of groups every time. I do expect us to compete at a really high level though, making it hard for the teams to beat us. Making us unpredictable, maybe grabbing a few wins here and there, hopefully we can win the Major. After falling apart in Krakow, the new roster was sharp, and went on a tear. 3rd-4th at ESL One New York ELEAGUE (Casting) And IEM Oakland. "Alright then the semifinal's about to happen. Let's just hear it from you, who's winning this is it FaZe? So is it Cloud9? Let's get it on it's semifinal time!" Cloud9 was looking like the best in NA again, and while they weren’t winning every significant tournament, they were placing well and truly competing with international rosters. And then, at the Boston Major, Cloud9 shocked the world by bringing down FaZe Clan 2-1 in the Grand Finals, becoming the first ever NA Major Champions. (Casting) But they did it without n0thing. N0thing isn’t necessarily upset that his team won the major without him. In fact, in a certain light, it’s not really his team anyways. It’s not the team he built, but the org he stuck with. Not being there for the win hurt, sure, but the way the team fell apart afterwards proved to him that maybe stepping back from the team was the right call. "And even thinking about it, obviously just wish I won a Major like every player wishes they won a Major. but not like "Ah f*ck these guys." I think it was actually best that the team made those decisions, to part ways, I probably should have left the team earlier. or changed something on the team earlier when I had a little bit more, of a say in what would happen." N0thing has gone back to play, just a little. Most notably, he stood in for Mousesports at ESL One Belo Horizonte, and helped the team to a second place finish in Brazil. "Yeah I mean I'm here just trying to play some CS, I'm definitely not replacing Oskar, that guy's a god awper, he's got a special role in this team. I'm just happy to be here, and not cause them any problems. Be able to stay with the pace they wanna play I'm proud to say that without a lot of practice I'm still able to show up and do what's necessary to beat top teams in the world, and I'm just really happy to play in front of this great crowd." But while playing for Mouz, n0thing got a chance to play with ropz, the team’s rising young star who cites n0thing as an influence for why he got into CS in the first place. "I mean I started playing 1.6 when I was around 7, And that was around the time when n0thing was like the same age as me, And he had like a lot of these good matches and frag movies, which I really still look at nowadays. And yeah he's probably the person I look up to." as for what comes next? N0thing says that’s still up in the air. "I've created kind of a little ecosystem, and that's what I'm doing. I'm not opposed to like playing again but the problem is is a lot of teams want a certain level of commitment. So all these things are happening and then I'm advising a couple companies passively. and I've put out this on my stream a couple times, I thought it'd be awesome if I were to play again to create an org, but you know building an org isn't like "Hey you wanna make an org, like alright cool see ya." Which, in itself, is a sign of what n0thing has become to CS fans. It’s been a long time since n0thing was the young hotshot savant he was known for being in 1.6. It’s been a long time since he was one of the best players in NA. It’s been a long time since he’s even been on a successful roster. But there is something about n0thing that is always true. N0thing will always be a crowd favourite. His legacy is one of excellence, but perhaps more importantly, of a player who wasn’t afraid to pull down the curtain a little, be honest with his fans and teach people about the game. "So what's cool for me as a streamer right now, is to keep educating, keep pushing kids to get better cause, really what keeps the scene thriving, is all the large group of players, the not super competitive guys having fun playing it because they are trying to get better. Or whatever reason to play with their friends and sense of community so." N0thing’s legacy in CS:GO will likely remain forever, but the work he does now, in that liminal state between player and retired personality, is sealing him in as one of NA’s most important CS personalities. The educating he does, the fans he keeps interested in the game, and the ability he has to inspire young players will only become more important to the scene as it matures. Thanks for watching. If you want more great content just like this, be sure to hit the subscribe button.
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