In July 2023, a Russian super team under the Cloud9 banner was announced with the acquisition of Denis “electroNic” Sharipov and Ilya “Perfecto” Zalutskiy from Natus Vincere to further elevate Cloud9 into the absolute top of competitive Counter-Strike.
But quickly the project fell apart with Dmitriy “sh1ro” Sokolov’s exit from the team which left Cloud9 without a dedicated AWP’er up until this day. Last week Denis “electroNic” Sharipov transferred to Virtus.pro, and now both Abay “HObbit” Khassenov and Ilya “Perfecto” Zalutskiy have been benched on the team.
It was a great pleasure to compete alongside players of your caliber, @HObbitcsgo and @perfectocsgo
We wish you nothing but success in your future endeavors ? pic.twitter.com/YprNIe5gGR
— Cloud9 CS (@C9CSGO) April 22, 2024
Immediately after the announcement, Cloud9’s CEO Jack Etienne assured the fans of Cloud9, that the organization is staying in Counter-Strike, and is doing a full rebuilding process in collaboration with Sergey “Ax1Le” Rykhtorov and Kirill ‘Boombl4‘ Mikhailov.
Thank you @HObbitcsgo and @perfectocsgo for your time at Cloud9. We appreciate your dedication and support, and I wish nothing but the best of luck to you both!
For the C9 fans – we are in a full rebuilding process in collaboration with Ax1Le and Boombl4. We won’t be disbanding. https://t.co/A5T3ke1Nsw
— Jack Etienne (@JackEtienne) April 22, 2024
Cloud9 reached the Quarter-Finals at the PGL Copenhagen Major, where they were eliminated by Team Vitality.
