Cloud9 KIA to provide coaching support to League of Legends North American Development League team Conviction

According to an official announcement on the social platform X, the well-known e-sports club Cloud9 KIA will provide coaching support for the "League of Legends" North American Development League team Conviction. The coaches Inero and Veigar V2 will assist in this cooperation. Cloud9 said that this move is aimed at discovering and cultivating local rookies in North America and creating the next generation of high-level professional players.

This is not the first time Cloud9 has supported NACL (North American Challenger League) related teams. As early as last summer, C9 started cooperation with Blue Otter to provide similar resources and guidance to the North American secondary league. As a club known for its youth training, Cloud9 has always been known for cultivating new players. The current starting jungler Blaber and former top laner Fudge are both representative players of C9's youth training system.

It is worth mentioning that C9 announced as early as 2023 that it would suspend its participation in NACL official events and disband its youth training team. At that time, the club pointed out that NACL did not provide a clear path for newcomers to become professional players, and the operating costs of more than one million US dollars per year were also the key reason for withdrawing from the league.

Despite this, Cloud9 has not completely given up on the development of young players. Now through cooperation with Conviction, the club continues to participate in the secondary league ecosystem in a more flexible way, continuing its tradition of "training young players to create stars".

As many clubs gradually reduce their reliance on older veterans and invest in younger players with greater potential, North America is welcoming a new wave of local talent. This trend not only optimizes the cost structure, but also injects vitality into the region's long-term competitiveness.

In the League of Legends, Cloud9 recently finished second in the second stage of the LTA North Division and is making a full sprint for a spot in the upcoming Mid-Season Invitational in Vancouver, Canada.