Cloud9 Signs LS as Head Coach

Cloud9 has officially signed Nick “LS” De Cesare as the team’s Head Coach for the upcoming 2022 League of Legends season. The former streamer and caster will have the opportunity to showcase his knowledge in one of the best organizations in North America.

Are you interested in LoL Esports?  Then make sure to check out our website to learn more! We have all the information that you need, from predictions, to power rankings and to all the best tips and guides to get into esports betting!

LS will be Cloud9’s new Head Coach for 2022

This announcement marks LS’ return to coaching after spending the last few years between streaming and casting League of Legends. His previous experience was on the Korean team bbq Olivers, making him the first foreign coach in the Korean League. His short stint in LCK Challengers wasn’t very successful, as his team only finished 5th in the CK 2019 spring. Before that, he also had some experience in the North American League scene, coaching teams such as Gravity and Tempo Storm.

LS, however, made a name for himself throughout the years thanks to its controversial takes and comments regarding the competitive scene. His vision of the game differs a lot from how most people play LoL, but sometimes his takes turn out to be true. His game knowledge is extremely vast and he will want to prove to the public that his vision might not be as bad as people think.

In the Cloud9 LS announcement, the South Korean resident mentioned that he saw a closer gap between Western and Eastern teams, making that the main reason why he signed with the organization. This signing, on the other hand, also closes the one with the Korean organization T1, after being one of their content creators and streamers in the last year.

“If there was ever going to be a chance to return to pro play in some facet, coaching, this probably would have just been it—provided that a lot of the stars would end up aligning,” LS said. “And, I thought watching Worlds this past year that LPL and LCK teams actually regressed in terms of gameplay … and I never felt that before in previous years.”

Cloud9’s 2021 was very unexpected, as the team reached the quarterfinals of this year’s League of Legends World Championship, sending home one of the big tournament’s favorites FPX.

LS joins Cloud9 alongside 3 other players

During the off-season, Luka “Perkz” Perković announced his departure from Cloud9 and the team made the decision to restructure their own roster, including a role swap by former top laner Ibrahim “Fudge” Allami. Not only that, but the organization also brought in three new players: top laner Summit, AD carry Berserker, and support Winsome. At this point, it doesn’t come as a surprise that LS was interested in coaching with the two Korean players on the team. He has always shown to have better chemistry with the LCK players, as well as the fact that LS himself approves those players.

Additionally, he also made a promise to keep the organization’s Academy team involved in the development of the roster. LS wants to work work with C9’s whole team of players, including veteran top laner Darshan, as well as bottom laners Zven and K1ng.

“I’ve been very outspoken about the need to scrim against an Academy team and the need to have internal scrims and internal practice,” LS said. “So, the Academy team is being stacked with also really high-level players and then even other coaches and other staff members that are being brought in, who are also Korean Challenger level players.”

Former ADC Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng mentioned on his stream that LS’ addition is a test: if his coaching succeeds and his strategies actually work, then “his stocks will go through the roof”. If not, it will still be entertaining, because he has all the tools to make his vision of the game into a reality, considering he also has Maxwell Alexander “Max” Waldo and Marius “Veigar v2” Aune as part of his coaching staff, people who he has known for years.

LS will make his coaching debut with C9 when the LCS returns on Jan. 14. We’re very excited to see what he can bring to the table and whether he is actually able to bring the NA competition up a notch.