This article is part of our Heroes of the Storm series.
Team captain Derek "DunkTrain" Arabian didn't mince words. Cloud9's loss to Team Naventic at DreamHack Austin, though a second place finish at the season's first regional, did not sit well with a team that had become accustomed to dominating on its home soil. A loss to a bitter rival further inflamed the team.
"It's hard for us to take second place as a victory," Arabian said. "To us, a second place was a defeat. An actual, 'We sucked at this event. Time to fix it.'"
Although uncontrived, part of Cloud9's reparation has included the addition of Ben "cattlepillar" Bunk, who replaces Taylor "Arthelon" Eder. Eder said he'd lost his drive for the game, though he still wants to remain in the competitive gaming scene. The former League of Legends player left nothing off the table, but that his time in HotS had likely expired.
"Yeah, I was surprised," Arabian said. "We had all known he was burnt out on the game. He wasn't 100% there and wanting to play the game. I expected (him) to keep going at least until Burbank. Sometimes people slump, not every slump is recoverable."
Arabian recalled his own slump. After a fourth place finish in China's Gold League in 2015, the luster from Cloud9's BlizzCon and inaugural World Championship began to fade. Arabian stopped playing HotS entirely for nearly a month, his own personal reset button.
"I just binged Fallout 4 for three weeks. Did nothing else," Arabian siad. "Also, at that time there were holidays and no balance change patches, no upcoming events. It is important to have a sort of offseason. An offseason would really help the players."
When the team saw Eder begin to fade, Cloud9 moved quickly, nabbing rising talent Bunk.
Cloud9 needed a rule change from ESL before Bunk would be allowed to play for Cloud9 at the regional. Bunk had previously qualified for the regional with his former team, Brain Power, and ESL rules had initially stated that player was barred from competing with another team at the event. Cloud9 needed the the final invitational qualifier with Bunk on hand to squeeze into the regional in Burbank.
With Bunk in the clear, much to the irritation of seemingly the rest of the scene, the team has moved Bunk into a flex role, similar to that occupied by Eder. Bunk and Cloud9 have had little more than a few weeks to integrate the tank player's hero pool. Yet, simply put, the addition of Bunk has revitalized Cloud9.
"The team was a lot more upbeat and positive," Arabian said. "There's a honeymoon period anytime you make a roster change. We'll have to see if the lack of time together is going to hurt us."
Arabian knows the results in online qualifiers don't mean much. Teams don't unveil their top strategies. Players don't grind and polish every detail of their game. That comes at larger tournaments. What ultimately determines the success of a team is a win at a LAN when the stakes and pressure are highest.
Team Dignitas taught the rest of the world a valuable lesson at the previous European regional. Dignitas, just a short period of time before the tournament, opted to make a perceived upgrade to its roster, moving on from Jonathan "Wubby" Gunnarsson and bringing on Alexander "AlexTheProG" Grumstrup -- a move that the team said would position itself to better compete on the international stage.
Dignitas had already qualified for the summer global, so it wasn't the riskiest of propositions. Still, the team had an atrocious showing at DreamHack Tours, finishing 5-6th, less than a month after boasting about the lack of competition in Europe.
Arabian said he'd be lying if he didn't worry about Cloud9 falling in much the same way Dignitas did, despite different circumstances. Arabian was quick to also highlight a roster move elevating a team, recalling Tempo Storm's initial success when it brought Aaron "erho" Kappes on board. (Kappes has since left the TS.)
"Anything can happen," Arabian said. "You never know how the dynamic of five people are going to work out."
That dynamic has began to unfold. Communication and compositions have been the first order of business.
"Whenever you have a roster swap your first order of business is to figure out if the synergy still works," Arabian siad. "If not who picks it up?"
Early on, a lot of Eder's former responsibilities have shifted to Keiwan "k1pro" Itakura. Bunk has become a unique flex player, shifting from his strictly tank play with COGnitive Gaming.
"We've been really impressed his with Tassadar and Tyrande," Arabian said. "I think he's a got a really good hero pool."
Cloud9 has implemented Bunk through its scrimmages, where the team has had decent results against most of the North American competition. And fans need not worry. Cloud9 has retained its signature, cheeky off-meta style.
"That's a strength of the team," Arabian said. "Willingness and capability to play off-meta that definitely gives you an advantage."
Only Gale Force eSports, which froze out Cloud9 after Bunk came on board, and Team Naventic have declined scrimmaging Cloud9 as the teams prepare for Burbank.
"There's bad blood between Naventic, so we'd rather not interact," Arabian said.
With likely Team Naventic standing in their path, the mission for Cloud9 remains as lofty and confident as ever.
"First goal is Sweden and second goal is to win it," Arabian said.
