Back when it was first announced that Nick “LS” De Cesare would join the Cloud9 LCS team as their head coach, it brought a new level of attention to the – might I say doomed to bore – North American League Of Legends competition. After just two weeks of the official LCS 2022 Spring split, he already delivered on his part.
With his atypical view of the meta and more creative ways to play the game, he brought us things like Ivern and Soraka in the midlane. This renewed way of looking at the game felt fresh and exactly what the LCS needed. However, as a bolt from the blue he was released from the roster before the start of the third week.
— Cloud9 (@Cloud9) February 22, 2022
Awkward timing
The timing of the press release of him stepping down felt very odd. The team was about to take the stage and LS himself was, presumably, on a plane back to South Korea. We were all left in the dark as the statement only included the information that LS was leaving and Waldo, previously the assistant coach, was taking up the mantle of head coach. Even now, some days later, we still have no founded reason on why he got released. However, by reading between the lines of the video Cloud9 posted on Twitter, you can pick up on some information.
Before jumping to conclusions because of a lack of facts and silence from both sides due to signed contracts including NDAs, it is easiest to say that LS and Cloud9 had different views on how to coach an LCS team. This coaching philosophy from LS might have given us the most fun start of the LCS ever, but there is always a vision from an organization that needs to be maintained. If their visions clashed, it was for the best to end the working relationship between both parties.
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But where does this leave LS in the current League Of Legends landscape you might wonder. I will go as far as calling this a big plus for his League Of Legends career. Although he might not be the best head coach for a team, he showed us that everything he preached in all those years actually worked on North America’s biggest stage. This gave more power to all his previous content when a lot of people thought he was a joke for putting Ivern at the top of a sololane tierlist or Soraka as one of the most underrated champions in the game.
Cool thing by everything past few months is I feel a ‘third wind’ for LoL again. I’m excited to see how long this one runs and I’m going to intentionally manage it better. Just love the game again.
— LS (@LSXYZ9) February 22, 2022
This small vacation over at Cloud9 gave LS a boost in public appearance and hopefully his fanbase will understand that sometimes things just do not work out. With his focus back on his main content like co-streaming major leagues and hopefully making more content with Nemesis and other influencers in South Korea, we can officially say that LS is back in business.
Read more:
- MSF Hiiva: “Shlatan has always been the strongest voice in any of our teams and that was one of the biggest reasons why we promoted him”
- All Dates for League of Legends Clash in 2022
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