Cloud9 opened their 2025 KeSPA Cup campaign with a dominant win over Gen.G in the tournament’s first group stage match. The North American team rolled through their Korean opponents behind new mid laner APA’s Ziggs and a resurgent Blaber on Qiyana.
But this wasn’t the Gen.G that won LCK championships. The Korean powerhouse was missing two of their biggest stars.
Chovy and Ruler sat out the match to complete mandatory military service obligations. Both players earned reduced service requirements after winning gold at the 2022 Asian Games, but still need to complete short-term basic training. That window overlapped with KeSPA Cup, forcing Gen.G to field substitute players Loid and Harusary instead.
Both substitutes only started professional play in August 2024. They’re third-tier players who normally wouldn’t see action in international competition.
APA made them pay immediately. The former Team Liquid mid laner secured his signature Ziggs pick and proceeded to tear apart Gen.G’s substitute mid laner. He built a massive CS advantage in lane, established complete priority, and used Ziggs’ siege potential to choke out the map.
By 17 minutes, the mid lane gap had grown to roughly 3,000 gold. Loid looked completely outclassed on the international stage.
Blaber capitalized on the mid priority with explosive plays on Qiyana. His aggressive engages and assassinations drew comparisons to his prime form, with fans apologizing for doubting him heading into the season. The jungle-mid synergy between Blaber and APA looked sharp from the opening minutes.
Thanatos rounded out Cloud9’s damage threats with Rumble top. Despite one whiffed ultimate, his zone control combined with Ziggs and Qiyana gave Cloud9 overwhelming teamfight presence.
Gen.G’s substitutes struggled to stay relevant. Harusary repeatedly died without using Flash, drawing unfavorable comparisons to Doublelift’s worst international moments. The bot lane couldn’t stabilize against Cloud9’s tempo, and even Kiin and Canyon couldn’t salvage the situation with their solo lanes bleeding so heavily.
Cloud9 secured objectives cleanly and closed out the stomp without giving Gen.G any comeback windows.
The match also highlighted ongoing broadcast issues with the tournament. KeSPA Cup 2025 moved to Disney+ exclusivity in APAC and OCE regions, cutting off traditional Twitch and YouTube streams. Western fans reported audio inconsistencies, poor video quality despite HD streams, and no rewind functionality. Many resorted to VPNs, Discord watch parties, or unofficial Vietnamese restreams that were quickly taken down by copyright strikes.
What this actually means
KeSPA Cup serves as a pre-season testing ground rather than a premier tournament. Cloud9 will face tougher tests against Hanwha Life Esports and BFK later in the group stage. Teams will likely start banning Ziggs against APA by default after this performance.
Gen.G won’t field their academy roster once Chovy and Ruler return from military training. This match revealed the massive gap between their championship core and their depth players, but says little about the full-strength team’s prospects for LCK 2025.
