M1cks parts way with Cloud9

Joshua “⁠m1cks⁠” Micks has left Cloud9 on Sunday, April 4, after he has spent over a year with the North American esports organization as the assistant coach of their Counter-Strike: Global Offensive project. The 22-year-old has revealed he hopes to continue his career in the world of esports while not ruling out a possible return to a head coach position he held at Spacestation in early 2019.

Cloud9 Exit CS:GO Scene

M1cks leaving Cloud9 marks only the second departure from the North American esports organization after the team announced they’re temporarily ceasing their activities in their CS:GO division on Friday, March 26. The first to leave the team was C9’s head coach Chris “Elmapuddy” Tebbit, who got sacked when C9 ceased their operations, while all five of C9 players are currently transfer-listed but still under contract with the organization.

M1ck joined the team in January 2020 as an assistant to Tiaan “⁠T.c” Coertzen for their South African roster and remained with the organization as an analyst through its formation of the so-called “Colossus” roster before getting promoted to the role of an assistant coach in January 2021.

The team featuring Erick “Xeppaa” Bach, Patrick “es3tag” Hansen, William “mezii” Merriman, Alex “ALEX” McMeekin, and Ricky “floppy” Kemery, however, were not nearly as successful as many expected them to.

Poor Results and COVID-19 Restrictions

Since the formation of Cloud9’s latest roster, the team has struggled to make much noise at the highest level of play and had to deal with roster changes, which didn’t help them impress with their showings in Europe. C9’s only notable result of the year came at cs_summit 7 in January 2021, when they placed fifth-eight after losing a quarter-finals match with Fnatic (1-2).

Outside of that, C9 did not manage to make it far at Intel Extreme Masters XV – World Championship, where they placed 17th-20th and have most recently ended their ESL Pro League Season 13 run with a 2-3 record, which was good for another 17th-20th place finish. The lackluster results, as well as C9’s inability to gather the team in North America due to the COVID-19 travel restrictions, eventually led C9 to put their CS:GO project on hold.

“As I have now been officially released from my contract, I want to thank everyone in Cloud9 and all my teammates that I’ve worked with over the last year. The past year has been a crazy experience and one that I’ll cherish for the rest of my life, and I hope to work with them again in the future,” said m1cks.

“I’m still improving every day as both a coach and a person, and I’m looking for a project that wants to compete at the highest level and is willing to commit to the team/organizational structure needed to do so. I want to be a part of a team with high aspirations for international success, whether that’s as a Head or Assistant Coach in CS:GO or Valorant.”

M1cks’ Previous Coaching Experience Could Help Him Find a New Home

M1cks began his esports career in June 2018, when he joined Cerus eSports as a coach, before signing for Bravado Gaming as an analyst in August the same year. He was since a part of Spacestation, Rogue, eUnited, and most recently Cloud9, as a coach, assistant coach, and analyst.

His only stint as a head coach was at Spacestation and was rather short, seeing how he was with the team for just under a month before his trial ended, and he left for Rogue. During that stretch, he led Spacestation to a fifth-eighth place finish at the IEM Sydney North American Open Qualifiers and ESEA Season 30: Premier Division – North America.