Cloud9 release PUBG team

"Today, we say farewell and thank you to #C9PUBG. We are incredibly thankful for the dedication, hard work, and diligence that Nerf Kaymind hwinnfps and pr0phie put into their time at Cloud9, and we wish them all the best on their next journey!"

Magno "Pr0phie" Ramos, Ben "Nerf" Wheeler, Thierry "Kaymind" Kaltenback and Hunter "Hwinn" Winn are now teamless following the news, with no org lined up to pick up the players at the moment.

In a TwitLonger, Pr0phie explained that they intended to continue playing together and that they 'will be competing in NPL Phase 3 and the PUBG Worlds in November even if [they] have to be orgless.'

The team had been successful throughout 2019 as the second-best team in North America, achieving second place finishes in both National PUBG League phases and NPL Royales. On the international stage, the team struggled to perform in both events, with no top ten finishes and failing to win any prize money at all at GLL Grand Slam: PUBG Classic in Stockholm.

PUBG saw a decline in viewership in 2018 and players continue to struggle with large numbers of cheaters in their public lobbies. The competitive PUBG scene isn’t immune to this and is still recovering from a cheating scandal that saw multiple players banned for using an 'unauthorized program', some in public matches and others in professional matches at the start of the year.  

It is not known if Cloud9 will pick up another PUBG roster in the near or distant future. Another C9 PUBG team, Cloud9 Korea, was disbanded in 2018 within less than a year of forming and Cloud9 Mobile has no players left. HAVU Gaming released their own PUBG squad less than a year ago and competition from other games in the genre like Fortnite and Apex Legends has not gone unnoticed. 

Despite the issues being faced, competition has continued throughout the year. PMCO Spring Split Global Finals for PUBG Mobile Club Open concluded last month and the next big event for PC players will be the PUBG Nations Cup with one ex-C9 player, Kaymind, representing Canada at the event this weekend.