On the 14th (KST), Cloud9 qualified for quarterfinals by defeating Gen.G and Team Vitality.

At the start of the day, no one expected Cloud9 to make the near miracle run that they did. Goldenglue has said that even he was expecting a tie breaker for 2nd place. With amazing drafts and flawless team execution, C9 was able to obtain a 3-0 score for the day and was in contention for 1st place vs RNG.

Before Worlds, a majority would have never thought C9, let alone an NA team, could make RNG really work for a win. However, C9 proved everyone wrong in today’s game against RNG. A lot of back and forth lead to the game being one of the most exciting games to watch this Worlds. Although C9 lost the game to RNG, they still qualified for the quarterfinals.

After the games, we got to meet and talk with C9’s coach, Goldenglue. Below are the interview responses.

¤ How do you guys feel about placing 2nd for groups?

We are all ecstatic. We are all on a high right now. All super happy. I don’t think anyone came into the day expecting that we were going to go 3-0 and be contesting for 1st place. It has been a great day.


¤ What was it like watching the games? There were so many back and forths. Were you jumping up and down?

There was definitely a lot of screaming. I think the most memorable moment was after we won a fight. I don’t remember what game it was because they were all together. Jack literally stood up...opened the team room door and screamed out in the hallway. After, he would close the door and sit back down (laughs). We are basically all doing the same thing. It was really crazy. Lots of energy.


¤ Obviously, you had high hopes for C9 but did you honestly expect C9 to play this well today?

Honestly (laughs), it reminded me a lot of going to the gauntlet against TSM back in the day. We were all very hesitant like ‘WELL...The odds are kind of against us now (laughs).’ I was kind of expecting that we would get a tie breaker for second. I think most of the people were expecting the best case scenario to be a tie breaker for second.


¤ A coach is responsible for a team’s success and failure. Since you are a coach for C9 and Jensen more specifically, is it safe to say the C9 made it out of groups thanks to you?

(laughs). I’d like to think that I had some impact on how the games went. It is definitely really satisfying watching Jensen performance improve since Play-Ins. Seeing his performance improve so much over a short period of time, it is truly great to watch.


¤ Throughout watching today’s games, which moments were the best and scariest highlights for you?

The Vitality match and the RNG match were both really hype games. The scariest moment that I can think of was when Cabochard Flashed over the Dragon wall lvl 1 and looped around behind us. I have never seen anything like that before. I was like “HOOOOMG, WE ARE GOING TO DIE HERE FOR SURE.’ Somehow... we didn’t die to it. That was super scary.


¤ The former world champions, Gen.G, was the first team to be eliminated. In addition, NA and EU teams are playing phenomenally this year. I know ‘The gap is closing’ is memed a lot but is it really?

I’m not too sure if the gap is really necessarily closing or not. However, I believe we did a really good job at playing our style. Reapered had a pretty good draft based on what our strengths are. Definitely as a North American team, we have different strengths compared to the other regions.

EU teams are doing a very good job of showcasing their unique playstyle. I think this is what is causing this year’s Worlds to be so competitive.


¤ Do you agree that before this year, Korea and China were the only ones with definitive playstyles and the other regions were just undefined?

Yeah, I would say so. In the past, Western teams came to Worlds only to copy the Korean or Chinese teams. This year, we are not trying to do that at all. The EU teams are not trying to do that either. I think you can tell the level of comfort from the plays that are being executed. It is a lot more smooth and better done.


¤ Today was the first time ever that Svenskeren made it out of groups. Anything you want to say to him?

I’m super happy for him. I gave him a huge hug when he came back into the room. It is Svenskeren’s 4th time at Worlds, but it is his 3rd time coming from an NA region. So it is 3rd times the charm for North America. You can tell by his face that he is extremely happy.


¤ We saw a preview of how far C9 thinks they can go in the bootcamp interview. How far do you see C9 going realistically now?

Uhhh…(laughs). As long as we don’t get kt, I think we can make it to semis (laughs). kt definitely looks super strong. I’m honestly not sure actually. But, our team environment is amazing right now. I could see us going really far. Further than any other NA team has gone before.


¤ Lastly, is there anything you want to say to your fans and teammates?

I would like to say, thank you for watching. I’m glad we can all be apart of this insane time in League Of Legends history. I feel like this moment is going to be something I am going to look back on. Thank you guys for supporting me and Cloud9. It has been awesome.