Assistant Coach m1cks Departs Cloud9

Following over a year with the organization, Cloud9 CS:GO Assistant Coach Joshua “mc1cks” Micks has parted ways with the team. The 22-year-old’s departure was announced over the weekend, with the former eUnited analyst rumored to be lining up a return to a Head Coach position, having carried out such a role at Spacestation in 2019.

Cloud9 announced that it would be pausing their CS:GO operations at the end of March, with m1cks now being the second member of the team to make his exit following the news. Head Coach Chris “Elmapuddy” Tebbit was released, while all five players are available for transfer, however they remain under contract.

Why m1cks Parted Ways with Cloud9

M1cks joined Cloud9 in January last year, acting as assistant to Tiaan “T.c” Coertzen for the organization’s South African lineup. He then switched to an analyst role after the Cloud9 “Colussus” lineup was formed, before being promoted to assistant in January 2021. However, with Patrick “es3tag” Hansen, Erick “Xeppaa” Bach, William “mezii” Merriman, Alex “ALEX” McMeekin and Ricky “floppy” Kemery having been unable to live up to expectations, changes were understandbly made.

The fact that Cloud9’s best showing came in finising 5th-8th at the cs_summit7 earlier in the year, where they eventually lost out to Fnatic, demonstrates their struggles. The Covid-19 pandemic also impacted the team, with travel restrictions having been part of the reason behind the org taking a break from the North American scene.

What m1cks Had to Say Upon His Departure

Speaking on his exit, m1cks released the following statement: “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. 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 made his name as a coach with Cerus eSports in 2018, before joining Bravado Gaming as an analyst. M1cks spent a month on trial as the Head Coach at Spacestation, before departing for Rogue. However, even though his time with Spacestation was brief, he did lead the team to a 5th-8th place finish at the IEM Sydney North American Open Qualifiers, as well as the ESEA Season 30: Premier Division – NA.