Cloud9

 is a North American esports organization.

Halo 2: Anniversary
On November 26, 2014, Cloud9 announced its entry into the Halo scene with the acquisition of the roster of The Agency. Tyler "Ninja" Blevins, Justin "FearitSelf" Kats, Jacob "Hysteria" Reiser, and Cameron "Victory X" Thorlakson, along with coach Kory "Symbolic" Arruda, joined the organization as Cloud9 Halo. Cloud9 did not participate in the first ESL HCS Pre-Cup, but in the second preseason tournament they advanced all the way to the finals. They fell to Counter Logic Gaming, and finished second overall. In HCS Cup, Cloud9 Halo ended with a top 16 finish, after a loss to Optic Gaming. They rebounded from this disappointing finish at the first LAN event of the HCS season, Iron Gaming Columbus, where they finished 4th overall, although they were again eliminated by Optic. In HCS Cup, Cloud9 managed to reach the finals where they would face off against Denial Esports. Cloud9 emerged victorious in the series and the tournament, and seemed to be in excellent form heading into UGC St. Louis. However they once again ran into their old nemesis in Optic Gaming, and finished in 5th place. Their placing did not improve in HCS Cup, where they lost to Str8 Rippin in the quarterfinals and finished top 8. The team did not get down however, and managed to take home first place in HCS Cup, again beating Denial in the finals. Cloud9 had a strong showing at Gamers For Giving 2015. In WB Round 4, they were narrowly defeated 3-2 by OpTic Gaming. They then took to the Losers Bracket, defeating Velocity Halo and VexX Reality Check 3-0. In LB Round 7, they upset the 2nd seeded UGC winners Denial with a series score of 3-1. In Round 8, they faced off against 1st seed Counter Logic Gaming and took the first two games. CLG took the next two, but Cloud9 took a late lead in Game 5. Unfortunately for Cloud9, CLG perfectly executed a game ending push to steal the game and the series, ending Cloud9's weekend with a 4th place finish. Cloud9 went into the HCS Season 1 Finals at PAX East as the 5th seed. In WB Round 1, they defeated season-long rivals OpTic Halo 3-2 to secure top 6 and advance to WB Round 2, where they faced Evil Geniuses. EG dominated the match, sweeping C9 3-0. In LB Round 2, C9 faced Str8 Rippin for top 4, sweeping them 3-0. C9 then faced Noble Black in the LB Semifinals, and were defeated 3-2, ending their tournament and season with a 4th placing. Cloud9's average LAN placing in HCS Season 1 was 4.25 and their total winnings amounted to $10,550 USD.

Cloud9 captain Ninja was released on March 18, 2015. Cloud9 began the second HCS season with a top 16 finish in the first Preseason Cup, with FierceElite subbing in for Victory X and iGotUrPistola acting as the 4th. Ninja was officially replaced with Justin "iGotUrPistola" Deese on April 7, 2015, though the team had been running with him for weeks beforehand. At Iron Games Atlanta 2015, Cloud9 was defeated in Winners Round 4 by Counter Logic Gaming despite gaining a 2-0 series lead. They then staged a dramatic losers' bracket run, defeating Annex, Velocity, OpTic Gaming and Winterfox before falling to Denial eSports in the Losers' Finals in 4 games, earning them a 3rd place finish. Throughout the seven online cups of season 2, Cloud9 was inconsistent, placing as high as 3rd and as low as top 16. At HCS Indianapolis, Cloud9 defeated Counter Logic Gaming 3-1 before being swept 3-0 by Evil Geniuses. In the LB, Cloud9 were defeated 3-0 by Winterfox. They lost to OpTic Gaming in consolation to end their tournament with a 6th place finish. Cloud9 went into the HCS Season 2 Finals with the 5th seed. Their first match was against Counter Logic Gaming, and they were defeated 3-1 and sent to the Losers' Bracket. In the LB, they faced eXcellence and defeated them 3-0 before defeating Winterfox 3-1. They then met up with CLG once again, and were again defeated 3-1, ending their tournament and their season with a 4th place finish.

Halo 5: Guardians
On September 1, 2015, Buckness confirmed in a forum post that Pistola had left the organization. As of December 2015, Cloud9's Halo roster was no longer listed on their official website, and the players had removed all Cloud9 branding from their social media pages, unofficially indicating that they had parted ways with the organization. Months later, on March 3, 2016, Cloud9 made a late entry into Halo World Championship 2016, acquiring the Triggers Pound roster of Scott "Cloud" Holste, Dan "Danoxide" Terlizzi, Clete "Assault" LoRusso and a returning Hysteria. As Triggers Pound, the team had earned a spot in HWC as a top 8 North American team. At Worlds, Cloud9 were upset in their group by Epsilon eSports, which eventually lead to them not making it out of the group and finishing top 16. In July, Cloud9 rejoined the Halo scene, acquiring the Pro League 4th place team Renegades roster featuring a returning Ninja, Victory X and coach Symbolic alongside Hamza "Commonly" Abaalli, and Zane "Penguin" Hearon. Having qualified for the Season Finals as Renegades, C9 faced the tough task of tackling Counter Logic Gaming in the first round. They took the first two games, but CLG proved too much as they won the series 4-2. C9 were then defeated in Losers' Round 1 in 6 games by Enigma6 Group, ending their event with a 4th place finish. Cloud9's third tenure in Halo was put in jeopardy when, during the post-season Rostermania, Cloud9 seedholders Commonly, Penguin and Symbolic were acquired by Team Liquid, leaving Cloud9 without a spot in the Pro League.