Cloud9 suffered an 0-2 week to Golden Guardians and TSM in Week 8 of the 2020 League of Legends Championship Series Spring Split. After dominating most of 2020, including an LCS Spring championship, C9 is 2-5 in the second round robin of the LCS Summer Split after a perfect 9-0 first round robin. C9 Mid Laner Yasin "Nisqy" Dincer spoke to Inven Global's Nick Geracie about Cloud9's recent struggles after the team was shellacked by TSM. 

Nisqy, what is your perspective on Cloud9's struggles in recent weeks?

I'm not sure. One portion of this is our perception of what's good in the current meta and what is good for us as a team. Before, we always knew what was really good for us and what we would pick as answers to our opponent's picks.

Also, we haven't been playing that insane, in my opinion. Scrims have been very different from our recent LCS games. Everyone fights more in scrims than they do in LCS matches, so that might be part of why we have a bad read on the meta, too. I'm not so sure to say any of these are the direct reason we're playing so bad, though. 

The meta has changed since C9 was last dominant, but is it more to do with your read on it or simply how this meta values your strengths as a team?

I think it's our read on the meta that is a bit off. We're not sure what's the best for us to play or what's the best for our opponents, and as I said, our play hasn't been the best either. That's about it.

A lot of analysts have pointed towards Cloud9's diversification of draft and composition when referring to your struggles. Have your recent results been based more on the champions you are drafting or your execution on those picks?

We've been trying some stuff that has worked really well in scrims; a lot better than it has in our LCS matches. I don't think there's anything that we are truly doing wrong, but we are just playing poorly and have a poor read on things. These factors are what is causing us to lose so many games lately. Once we figure that out, I think we should be a top team, but right now, we are bad, so we need to figure these things out again. 

When you feel like your team's struggles are based on a bad read on the meta, how does that change the way that you practice and adjust for your next matches in the LCS?

It for sure changes things for us because we are probably just going to pick what is best in the meta before trying other things. I think that we will spend this week trying to figure out what is good for us and play around that.

C9 certainly hasn't played to its expected level recently, but have the other teams in the LCS improved enough to be able to challenge you?

No, I think other teams have gotten better. For example, look at Golden Guardians. The way GG drafts and plays...I was talking to their team's Jungler Can "Closer" Çelik and he said, "We kind of do what you guys do and it's working really well for us."

It's hard for us to stay on the top in general if people figure out how to play against or how to play like you in terms of how they draft. I think we did a good job of adapting before, but as a team,we are currently slow on that, so I think that's why things have been harder for us, too.

I'm glad you brought that up, because we saw something similar in the LEC last year where G2 Esports dominated everyone. G2 continued to be the best team as the season progressed, but other LEC teams learned things from playing against it and by default became more familiar with the G2 Esports way to play League of Legends. Do you think something similar is happening here with Cloud9 in the 2020 LCS?

Yeah, definitely. For example, when teams play against us and they don't know how we succeeded, if they then play the same draft we did they are going to figure some things out. In spring, no one ever mimicked or countered our drafts in scrims, but this split teams have been better at doing that and also improving slowly in general. I think both factors play a part.

Every member of Cloud9 has faced more adversity in their respective careers than a single rough month of results, so how is the team's morale after this loss to TSM?

I think it's still fine, we're just in a bit of slump right now. There aren't any issues within the team, I just think our play has been bad as it has been shown. We also all know that if we pick things up and do more that we will be the best team in the end. I think it's just a matter of time. If we're adaptable, we should be fine at the end of things, and I'm pretty sure all my teammates know that as well as me. 

It's good to hear the team is on the same page despite the slump. Is there anything you want to say to the C9 fans?

I wanted to say that I'm sorry we have been doing really badly. We are the first people to know that we aren't playing that great right now. I'm sure we will turn it around, but we will probably need some time. We should be ready by the 2020 LCS Summer Playoffs, so thank you for the support once again as always. I hope we get back in form soon.

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As with everything else, the fantasy expectations for this Cloud9 team are sky high. Even though Nisqy has taken a step back from his Spring form, he is still an absolute premier option at the position. He has been allowing his teammates, specifically Blaber, to get the Kills while Nisqy racks up the Assists, a stat in which he has almost 40 more than the next player. His owners would prefer for more of those to be Kills for the extra points, but Nisqy is still as safe as they come, even when they aren’t stomping their opponent.

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