“I think [we're] starting a little slow, but I think it's because we're taking the right way and making sure we have long term success.”

Daniel "Rossy" Abedrabbo, who spent last year overseas under the T1 T1 Korea Rank #2 stax Kim Gu-taek (김구택) Meteor Kim Tae-oh (김태오) Sylvan Go Young-sup (고영섭) BuZz Yu Byeong-cheol (유병철) iZu Ham Woo-ju (함우주) banner, has finally returned home to the Americas after signing with Cloud9 Cloud9 North America Rank #7 Xeppaa Erick Bach v1c Victor Truong mitch Mitch Semago neT Michael Bernet OXY Francis Hoang . Despite being picked up after his team qualified for Red Bull Home Ground through the Seattle LAN, the new in-game leader displayed confidence and trust in his team ahead of one of the biggest OFF//SEASON events of the year.

“I think being under Autumn and my teammates [at T1]... taught me a lot of balance and [I] understood how to be a better person. Without that experience, I would not be able to lead this team or be able to do anything that well coming back home to America.” noted Rossy when prompted about his time with his former team.

t1 shanghai image Rossy helped take T1 to their only international event of the year. (Photo: Lee Aiksoon/Riot Games)

“If you look at our roster, firepower and stuff like that is not an issue at all… A lot of [our results] will be based upon our chemistry and how we want to play the game together. I know, not think, I know that these guys are all fantastic players. They're all going to have great individual seasons.”

Cloud9 has gone through changes this year, with players shuffling in and out throughout many portions of the season. Most recently, the team bid farewell to vanity and runi before signing Rossy and former Moist x Shopify Moist x Shopify North America Rank #8 Pa1nt Amarri Peak Spaz Adam Laamoumi Paincakes Jake Hass BcJ Brendan Jensen brawk Brock Somerhalder player v1c . The new roster took home the trophy at the Seattle Qualifier, but exited the SEN City Classic winless.

“After we played in SEN City, we lost every game, but we learned what's actually good and what's not good. We want to focus on recurring issues and fixing those. We use these OFF//SEASON events to really learn about what our true strengths and weaknesses are… Obviously we want to win and we're not just there to practice, but overall it's a learning experience.”

Rossy also spoke on Immi and GUGLi , the two coaches on the team who seldom received time under the spotlights. The two have helped Cloud9 prepare and practice throughout the VCT season and ahead of a new year.

“They have a really good dynamic between Coach and Assistant Coach. Truthfully, they do very well and work off each other very well. They also have their own strengths and know how to divvy up the work to make sure that everyone is doing what they need to do. They keep us on the same page at all times.”

Surprisingly, there seemed to be an absence of teams that Rossy had set his sights on. The in-game leader displayed calmness and indifference to his potential opponents.

“There isn't anyone I'm looking forward to play… whoever God decides we need to play we need to play. Obviously there's T1 and I think it would be fun to play against some of my former teammates and friends. Whoever we play is whoever we play.”

However, there were two teams that certainly seemed a cut above the rest to him. When asked about which rosters looked the scariest, Rossy immediately listed two powerhouses.

“I think Team Heretics Team Heretics Europe Rank #1 MiniBoo Dominykas Lukaševičius Wo0t Mert Alkan RieNs Enes Ecirli benjyfishy Benjamin David Fish Boo Ričardas Lukaševičius is the easy pick here. Heretics and FNATIC FNATIC Europe Rank #3 crashies Austin Roberts Boaster Jake Howlett kaajak Kajetan Haremski Chronicle Timofey Khromov Alfajer Emir Ali Beder in my opinion. I think FNATIC's playing with their original roster and Sayonara . That Sayonara guy looks really good… Heretics and FNATIC look really scary.”

As for which teams seemed easiest to beat, Rossy couldn't seem to come up with any.

“Uh, I don't know. Maybe us. Maybe us.” he laughed. “Maybe we'll be easy to beat. Those are all good teams, I truly don't believe anyone is easy.”

Rossy's attitude towards the OFF//SEASON events may seem lax, but his overall thought process behind it put his perspective of the event into one of practice and improvement.

“You can't really put a lot of stock into it; I think it's so hard to tell. Last year, Heretics and Gen.G Gen.G Korea Rank #1 Foxy9 Jung Jae-sung (정재성) t3xture Kim Na-ra (김나라) Munchkin Byeon Sang-beom (변상범) yoman Chae Young-moon (채영문) Karon Kim Won-tae (김원태) were the two best teams, and both struggled in the OFF//SEASON. Heretics played back to back events and lost, Gen.G lost to FUT Esports FUT Esports Europe Rank #7 xeus Doğan Gözgen MrFaliN Furkan Yeğen yetujey Eray Budak AtaKaptan Ata Tan cNed Mehmet Yağız İpek qRaxs Doğukan Balaban in Convergence. Obviously there are teams like Sentinels Sentinels North America Rank #4 N4RRATE Marshall Massey bang Sean Bezerra Zellsis Jordan Montemurro zekken Zachary Patrone johnqt Mohamed Amine Ouarid who did good and had a really great year.”

“If you [think] ‘this OFF//SEASON event is gonna make or break us,' I think that's a little bit interesting and I don't think that I agree with that.”

Overall, Rossy seemed prepared and ready to put the work ahead of the 2025 VCT. His attitude and demeanor displayed confidence and understanding of his team's position this year.

“I'm blessed to be here and have this opportunity to play on C9 and I hope that I can lead them to a great year and maybe break the Cloud9 regular season curse and actually make an international event with these guys.”

rossy image Good luck, Rossy! (Photo: David Lee/Riot Games)

“We know we're good. Any day we can come up and just beat anyone, but it's just about being consistent; being consistently good every single day. But that just comes with practice. We might be ready right now, we might not. We're a pretty young team and are just going with it. We're not looking too deep into the future or the past, just focusing on the current moment. We're definitely improving every day and that's all that matters right now.”

Cloud9 will face FNATIC today in their opening match of the fifth annual Red Bull Home Ground, a rematch of last year's grand finals.