![image for Doublelift on Sneaky’s departure from Cloud9: “I just think it’s weird the way [they’re] treating him”](ff4208b1-8089-5498-b06b-b64c60a2ba2b.jpg)
Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng and Zachary “Sneaky” Scuderi are two of the most talented veterans in the LCS. Although they’ve constantly been on opposite sides of Summoner’s Rift, the star Team Liquid ADC had plenty of things to say about his counterpart’s situation with Cloud9 during a recent stream.
Sneaky recently revealed that he’ll no longer play for C9 in 2020. He said that a few people on the League of Legends roster didn’t like playing with him anymore and that he didn’t want to end up “fighting back [for his] spot against people that didn’t want [him] to be there.” As a result, he’ll either be taking a break from competitive League or joining a new roster.
Doublelift on Sneaky (pt.1) Clip of Doublelift Playing League of Legends – Clipped by Digityler
Doublelift said that although Sneaky had a bad year, he’s still a good ADC. While many people have created this perception that Sneaky has lost passion for the game and that he’s focusing on too many different things, like cosplaying and streaming, Doublelift doesn’t think this is true. He even said that Sneaky plays more solo queue than him.
Doublelift on Sneaky (pt.2) Clip of Doublelift Playing League of Legends – Clipped by Digityler
“I don’t think it’s a big deal that he didn’t have his best year in season nine, but I think it’s crazy the way [C9] is treating him,” Doublelift said. “Sneaky’s always played a ton of solo queue, he’s always been pretty dedicated… I don’t know, I just think it’s weird the way C9 is treating him.”
The all-star AD carry acknowledged that how C9 delivered the message is important, too. From his perspective and how Sneaky spoke about the situation, it seemed like C9 wasn’t “giving him any sort of respect for sticking by Cloud9 all this time and carrying the brand.” Doublelift said that he and the rest of the community might be reading into it too much, but Sneaky’s made his feelings clear through his statements.
Doublelift on Sneaky pt.3, and who the best ADCs in NA are Clip of Doublelift Playing League of Legends – Clipped by Digityler
Doublelift also said that he, Sneaky, and Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen are the best ADCs in the region. “We’re the best and we have a lot of respect for each other,” Doublelift said. “We each have our own strengths and weaknesses, but we’ve always been good.”
There’s a big debate surrounding Sneaky’s departure from C9 and whether it was warranted based on his recent performances vs. his legacy. Many people believe that if Sneaky was truly dedicated to the game, he’d fight for the spot and prove that he still has what it takes to remain on a top-three roster instead of giving up.
Some believe, however, that Sneaky has every right to decline fighting for a spot, especially if some of his teammates have said they don’t want to play with him. In the end, C9 has already made a decision to move forward with a new duo for 2020. It’s now up to Sneaky to decide what’s best for his future in League.
DudeToManz on November 22nd, 2019 at 01:43 UTC »
Obviously we probably don't know the entire story but it makes sense in my head
Licorice/Nisqy were pretty disappointed with how Sneaky played (might be botlane by extension). Basically asked Jack either to let them off the team or to trade/remove Sneaky (and again, maybe Zeyzal)
Jack chose to keep Lico/Nisqy. Reasonable choice since you can probably expect Licorice to be playing at a top level for many years to come and you can't really say the same thing with a close amount of confidence for Sneaky. Whether or not he's a legacy player if your ambition is still to win it's certainly the better call out of the two for Jack.
With current info you probably can't say for certain whether or not Sven/Zeyzal to EG was related to this. But if Licorice wants to win LCS/do well at worlds I don't think he'd want Sven to go especially when he just got residency. Can't go much further with this point with current public info I think.
Licorice is clearly the replacement as Sneaky for the next franchise player for C9. Loco said that Licorice was the only player Jack wasn't interested in trading at all, which should tell you enough about how Jack feels about him.
C9 took a ton of risks this offseason and there's a lot of questions that come with them. Can Blaber perform well enough on a starting spot to deserve it? Can Zven regain his European form or at the very least be better than he was on TSM? Vulcan had a pretty good ADC in Cody, there's a (small but worth mentioning) chance that it's an Olleh situation. If every risk C9 took works out fine then they do have a decent shot at LCS even against Liquid with Broxah
Tails6666 on November 22nd, 2019 at 01:28 UTC »
Imagine if C9 doesn't make the worlds the one-time Sneaky is off the team. That would be truly ironic. We'll have to wait and see in Season 10.
DoctorHeliolisk on November 22nd, 2019 at 01:10 UTC »
It's hard to say without the full story, but it's definitely odd how this situation was handled. Sneaky is the last OG member of C9, and has always had a strong mark on their brand. I also think it's bullshit that some people point to him not fighting for his spot as "lack of motivation." Like he said himself, why would Sneaky want to fight for a spot on a team that doesn't want him?