Cloud9 won its first match following the return of AD carry Jesper "Zven" Svenningsen in the 2021 League of Legends Championship Series Summer Split against Golden Guardians. The win was far from clean, but for a defending LCS champion C9 that has started the summer off with a mediocre record of 4-5, it was a welcome change after the team lost all three of its games last weekend. 

C9 Academy AD carry Calvin "k1ng" Truong performed well enough to not be a detriment to Cloud9 in his LCS debut, but Zven's presence has proven irreplaceable following his sudden benching a few days before the LCS Summer Split. 

After Cloud9's win over Golden Guardians, Zven answered a question from Inven Global regarding whether he expected to be subbed back into the LCS roster after the team lost all three of its games the previous weekend. "I didn't really expect it because of the result, but yeah. I had a feeling that at some point during the split I would get another chance."

Zven may have not specifically factored Cloud9's recent performance with k1ng into the likelihood of his timeline for returning to the LCS, but his confidence in a return speaks towards the dominant performance he has showcased since joining C9 ahead of the 2020 season. In his first game of the LCS Summer Split, Zven was given his signature Ezreal, a champion who has risen to prominence in the current meta due to being able to make great use of premiere Mythic Item Divine Sunderer.

Cloud9 netted a messy win by the skin of its teeth against Golden Guardians, but it will need to play much better in its next match against 100 Thieves. 100 Thieves has started off the LCS Summer Split with a scorching 8-2 record, tied for best in the league with TSM.