The Cloud9 CEO, Jack Etienne, has revealed why Jensen isn’t on C9’s LCS team this year in a video with Ibrahim “Fudge” Allami.
Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen, the previous mid laner for Cloud9, is a veteran of the LCS and one of the greatest mid laners to compete in the league over the course of its history. However, it’s been announced that he won’t be returning to Cloud9 for the 2023 LCS split. In a recent video posted to the Cloud9 YouTube channel, Jack Etienne revealed exactly why fans won’t be seeing the Danish player in the iconic white and blue come the spring split of 2022.
Why isn’t Jensen on C9?
The Cloud9 CEO and top laner sat down to discuss Cloud9’s future LCS roster, as well as address some of the changes from the 2022 summer split. The most notable change is the absence of Jensen from the roster, which the CEO pinned on a discrepancy between what Jensen wanted to be paid and what Cloud9 could offer. In the video, Etienne is transparent that he went to Jensen and had to offer a total that was less than half of what the mid laner was already making in his previous time with Cloud9. According to Etienne, that wasn’t enough for Jensen, so the CEO offered to let Jensen test the field for offers more fitting his hopes. This appears to be the only reason that Jensen isn’t on C9 for the coming split, many LCS teams seem to budgeting more carefully heading into 2023, and Jensen is one of many talents lost to those budget cuts.
Rumors have been circulating that Jensen will be finding his way to Dignitas alongside Team Liquid’s ex-jungler Lucas “Santorin” Tao Kilmer Larson. Rather than any internal conflict, it seems to be a shift in the amount of capital available to LCS teams that has led to Jensen not being on C9 in 2023.
