Cloud9 parted ways with League of Legends head coach Bok "Reapered" Han-gyu on Monday, marking the end of the coach's four-year tenure with the team once considered the best in North America.
"Thank you to all the staff members and to all the players who worked with me," Reapered said on Twitter. "And thank you to the fans who watched our journey from beginning to end, and thank you for being with us, happiness, sadness, disappointment, fulfillment, and all the emotions, with us!"
The news comes after Cloud9 failed to qualify for the 2020 League of Legends World Championship despite one of the best regular seasons in North American history. The team lost to Team SoloMid in the summer playoffs, placing fourth overall, one spot below the required placement for qualification. Cloud9 had previously extended Reapered's contract in April to last through the 2022 season.
Cloud9 dominated the region throughout the year after taking big swings in the offseason in November. The team notably paid $1.5 million, in addition to $250,000 for Johnson "Johnsun" Nguyen's contract to package in the trade, to acquire support Philippe "Vulcan" Laflamme from Dignitas. It also signed former Team SoloMid AD carry Jesper "Zven" Svenningsen to replace Zachary "Sneaky" Scuderi, Cloud9's longest-standing member and one of the most popular players in North America.
Reapered led Cloud9 to a world championship semifinal in 2018, despite not being the top team in North America that season. They lost that series to Fnatic. In 2019 Cloud9 again went to worlds but did not make it out of the group stage.