'I created it, let me move on': Ex-Cloud 9 player, the Overwatch team whose blunder inspired the infamous 'C9' slang, watches in horror as the term moves onto Marvel Rivals
Let me take you down memory lane, back to Overwatch Apex Season 2 in 2017. Specifically, to the match between AF Blue vs. Cloud9. It was first to three over five possible maps, and despite dominating most of their team fights, Cloud9 lost. Badly.
Two of their three losses were due to repeatedly pulling a 'C9' (short for Cloud9), a phrase that was coined by a whole generation of Overwatch players after this very match. Somehow, the team forgot to capture the objective twice when fighting on Lijang Tower, and then made a similar mistake on Volskaya during the attack phase. Despite happening almost eight years ago, the phrase "C9" has become a regularly used term in Overwatch, and we're seeing it take root in Marvel Rivals, too, much to one of the team members' dismay (via Polygon).
"MARVEL RIVALS BOOMING IN POPULARITY MEANS A TON OF NEW PLAYERS ARE LEARNING WHAT A 'C9' [IS] AND THAT I CREATED IT," streamer Lucas 'Mendo' Håkansson and former member of Cloud9 says. "LET ME MOVE ON PLEASEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE."
It may seem a bit much, but I'd probably have a similar reaction if I were a successful Twitch streamer, top 100 Marvel Rivals player, Overwatch 2 pro, and the thing that I was known for above all of that was a series of blunders made almost a decade ago.
One player in Mendo's replies cements this by letting him in on their team strats: "You're my callout in our gaming group—instead of 'Don't C9' we say 'mendo mendo' cause it's a lot faster and more accurate LMAO." To this, all mendo has to say is, "Wow." Truly a shot to the heart.
It's true that C9 is now being used a lot more in Marvel Rivals, but in all honesty, that's the case with pretty much any game that has an objective to capture or defend, now. Unfortunately for mendo, the term C9 has surpassed Overwatch or even Cloud9—it's solidified itself in the videogame dictionary alongside other phrases like "zerg rush". You can't stop the will of the masses.