For NA LCS fans, Cloud9 has always been a solid contender in North America. They have been with the league since season three, and some of their seasons have been stellar – especially their premier in 2013, when they arrived and took the win in the summer finals. But there is one thing that has always made them stand out. Despite C9 not having won an NA LCS final since 2014, and only ever having won two, they are consistently the best North American team at Worlds.

In 2013, they were the only NA team in the quarterfinals. In 2014, they made in into the quarterfinals again alongside TSM. In 2015, they made it into the Group Stage with CLG (who were the first seed out of NA). In 2016, they were the only NA team to make it into the quarterfinals (despite being the third seed). And now, in 2017, history repeats itself. Third seed, best performance.

Some of this can simply be attributed to what Cloud9 doesn’t do. That is to say, one of TSM’s biggest weaknesses is their inflexibility. At Group stage, TSM showed an inability to adapt to the World’s meta or even to go much outside of their comfort zone. Like G2 and SSG, they started slow and stayed slow.

C9 hasn’t had that problem. They first had to climb their way through the Play-in stage, meaning they had to put in far more games and work, but it also meant they had the freedom to stretch before the big show, and they did. C9 has shown a breadth that TSM has never had. This year we saw Contractz, Jensen, and Impact all showing a variety of champions they can play well. This highlights a key component of the team, their ability to change. This has been especially true since Reapered was taken on as a coach as he has constantly promoted the comfort of the player in a situation over a given a strategy.

While other teams, like Immortals, have buckled under pressure and let it affect their gameplay, C9 has fared well. Though their first performance against SKT showed clear jitters, their next game was vastly improved. While Group B collapsed under pressure and sent the entire group into disarray, C9’s were relatively minor, and few of them looked to be from the pressure of the Worlds stage.

At the end of the day, C9 may not be the best North American team, but on the international stage, all their strengths are magnified. They adapt to the challenges of different regions better, change their style to fit their opponent better, and they have been to the stage enough times that they hold together under pressure. Perhaps the most remarkable thing about C9 above the rest of the NA LCS is that in the four years C9 has been around, they have stayed as the top competitor in international tournaments. We will have to see what changes 2018 brings, but for now, C9 is still NA’s strongest international team.