Cloud9 parts ways with coach Max Waldo

On December 29, 2022, the North American esports organization Cloud9 announced the departure of League of Legends head coach Maxwell Alexander “Max Waldo” Waldo.

Through its official Twitter account, the organization announced the news that Max Waldo is no longer part of the team. He was a part of the North American League of Legends competitive scene for the past two years.

This news surprised many fans and industry insiders, as Max Waldo has been crucial to Cloud9’s success in recent years.

The organization has not specified the reason for Max Waldo’s release, nor has the 23-year-old shared why he decided to leave.

Max Waldo commented on his departure:

“[It was] 100 percent my decision to leave.”

“I spent two amazing years with C9, and I wish them the best. I made the decision recently, which is why they included me in their most recent team announcement.”

Despite all of Max Waldo’s success at the helm of Cloud9, he decided to step aside and leave the team in the hands of Alfonso “mithy” Rodríguez, who returned to the staff as Head Coach on November 24.

With Mithy’s return, Max Waldo moved from head coach to positional coach. Although he would not lead the team, fans and the community thought he would stay with Cloud9.

Ending a successful journey

The young strategist along with mithy and Kim “Reignover” Yeu-jin led Cloud9 to the title of LCS 2021 Spring Split Champions. However, he then stumbled at the 2021 Mid-Season Invitational, where the team placed 5th-6th with a 3-7 record in Rumble Stage.

In the 2022 season, Max Waldo took over as head coach. He managed to get Cloud9 to bounce back strong, reach the LCS 2022 Lock-In tournament finals, and finish in second place. Unfortunately, in the Spring Playoffs, the team placed fourth after losing to eventual champions Evil Geniuses.

In the LCS 2022 Championship, Cloud9 defeated CLG, Evil Geniuses, and 100 Thieves; the latter twice — once in the semifinals and once in the grand final — to win the LCS 2022 summer trophy.

What’s next for Cloud9?

Despite the surprising news of Max Waldo’s departure, Cloud9 will probably not have to make significant changes to the LoL 2023 roster. This is because the esports organization already has mithy as a head coach, who returned to his position after a year as an assistant coach at 100 Thieves.

All in all, Cloud9 boasts a pretty strong coaching staff. Besides mithy, they have Zixing “Tails” Jie, Marcin “Selfie” Wolski, and Marius “Veigarv2” Aune.

Header: Max Waldo | Twitter