Cloud9 vs Royal Never Give Up

Things have gotten quite dire for Cloud9 and, frankly, we're putting it mildly here. With just a single win on the board and a whopping five losses, they're all but guaranteed to pack their bags and catch a ride back home with their tails between their legs, humbled and outclassed to the highest of levels. And, really, no one's the better for it. Cloud9 had quite a lot of hype coming into this year's Mid-Season Invitational but absolutely none of it happened to materialize and result in something positive.

Moreover, LCS representatives rarely managed to leave a mark on the international stage. Cloud9 has pretty much been the only team to actually do some damage to the long-established status quo, so it was only natural that most folks thought they'd deliver in Reykjavik as well. But alas, it just wasn't meant to be. And it's a crushing sight to behold, no doubt. Losing is often inevitable even for the best of teams, but losing in this sort of fashion? Absolutely gutting. It's bitter, disheartening, and just downright awful.

Now, not all is grim, although we *are* grasping at straws here. Cloud9 *did* have a couple of exceptional performances thus far, and they nearly took down RNG as well. They are by no means untalented or unworthy of playing on the biggest of stages — they've just imploded and are trying to correct course before it's too late. When they draft to their strengths and put their best foot forward — which hasn't been happening all that often lately, for reasons unknown — they can definitely tango with the who's who of competitive League. Unfortunately, as already mentioned, these short flashes of brilliance aren't enough to warrant a spot higher up the standings, nor is it enough to warrant our benefit of the doubt.

Cloud9 have failed, and spectacularly so. There's just no other way to phrase it, frankly. And, to make matters even worse, they're scheduled to face none other than the LPL champions Royal Never Give Up who, interestingly enough, have only dropped a single game thus far. They've looked nigh unstoppable and are without a shadow of a doubt the frontrunners to win this year's Mid-Season Invitational. Whether things will actually pan out that way still remains to be seen, but they're the heavy favorites and they've earned such a respectable position through incredibly commanding play and spotless execution.

Cloud9 are dangerous, perhaps now more than ever seeing how their backs are against the wall. But the opponent in front of them is far too powerful and has only dropped the ball once thus far. They're staggeringly dominant and have wasted no time in letting everyone know they mean business. Could9 upset? There's definitely a chance, but it's a meager one at best (if not non-existent). It's just hard to side with the boys in black and blue given just how badly they've looked thus far — abysmal in every sense of the word. Their drafts are bad, and so is their play, not to mention their early-to-mid game decision-making. All in all, don't expect much (if anything at all) from the North American champions as you'll surely be disappointed.

We're going to side with Royal Never Give Up on this one as it's the only logical option. They're better in every which way and while Cloud9 will surely put up a much bigger fight than most people expect, the LPL representatives should still be able to emerge victorious and improve their (already) stellar record even further.