Cloud9 CEO Jack Etienne sheds light on controversial LS departure

The departure of Cloud9’s head League of Legends coach, Nick ‘LS’ De Cesare, has sent shockwaves through the LCS community. Now, fans finally have some answers, as C9 CEO Jack Etienne sat down with C9’s players to explain LS’s exit and the future of the org’s coaching staff. 

Social media was rife with rumors after the announcement that LS would be leaving Cloud9 just two weeks into the LCS spring split. The messaging around the decision from both C9 and LS himself was incredibly vague, and mentioned no motive for the benching, or information regarding LS’s next steps.

However, fans finally received some clarity via a three-minute video posted to Twitter on February 22, two days after LS’s departure was announced. In the video, Jack is joined by C9’s new head coach Max Waldo, jungler Robert ‘Blaber’ Huang, and top laner Park ‘Summit’ Wootae.

The organization’s CEO explained that “for years, Cloud9 has developed systems on how we like to coach and operate our team, and despite our best efforts working with LS to try and see eye-to-eye, we were unable to make it happen.” He went on to assert that the entire roster, including the coaching staff, had been aware of these issues from the start, and that “mutual efforts to try and resolve them over the several weeks” had been unsuccessful.

It was not made clear what these issues were, or what part of these systems LS was unable to fulfill.

From the video, it appeared that no hard feelings were harbored on Cloud9’s end, with Jack praising LS’s “incredible intelligence and strategic mind”. The video went on to highlight C9’s trust in Waldo, formerly the coach of the team’s academy roster.

• Read more: Explaining the Church of LS 

Speaking on behalf of the players, Jack asserted Waldo had the “100% confidence of our players, our coaching staff, and me personally.” Cloud9 currently sit tied for third place with 100 Thieves in the LCS with a 4-2 record, and Waldo explained that the team’s goals of being an “international threat” at the 2022 World Championships had not changed.

It’s still unclear as to LS’s future plans. However, in a comment on a recent Twitch broadcast of the talk show Hotline League, he revealed that he was done with coaching, at least in “official positions”. He also intimated that he would be returning to streaming, and to his popular live-viewings of LEC and LCS matches.