From Oceania to NA to Worlds, Cloud9’s Fudge continues his push toward top

July 9, 2021

by Xander Torres

Whether it’s struggling to adapt to a new level of competition or being eaten alive by fans on social media, it usually takes time for pro players to adjust once they debut. Cloud9’s top laner Ibrahim “Fudge” Allami was one of those players at the start of 2021, and although he might have struggled at first, he hasn’t looked back as one of the strongest top laners in the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS).

Fudge’s career has been full of slow starts, but he has constantly pushed himself to be at the point where he is today. Like most pro gamers, Fudge knew at a young age that competitive League of Legends was in his future. As he awaited his 17th birthday, Fudge got his start in the league scene by connecting with numerous pros in Oceania. After meeting one of Oceania’s most accomplished players, there was never a doubt that he’d find his way onto a professional team.

“When I was about 16 there was a really famous coach called Richard “Phantiks” Su who was originally a player,” Fudge said. “He basically asked if I wanted to join his new Challenger Series team. He was also friends with a lot of really good Oceanic players since he was a top Oceanic player himself.”

And so the networking and his climb toward the top began.

Representing Oceania and Worlds

“I basically joined one of their Discords that had Calvin “k1ng” Truong, Mitchell ‘Destiny’ Shaw, Quin “Raes” Korebrits, Tommy “Ryoma” Le and all those people,” Fudge said. “I was pretty good friends with all of them before I joined OPL [Oceanic Pro League], so I obviously talked to them a lot and was set to join MAMMOTH in Split 2 when I turned 17 years old. Eventually, I was able to go to Worlds … in my first split, which is kind of insane.”

Insane is one word to describe it. Fudge counted down the days until his 17th birthday and his debut with Oceanic dream team MAMMOTH, who won the OPL 2019 Split 2 Championship and punched a ticket to the League of Legends World Championship in Europe. Some players are lucky to have that type of success in their careers at all, but Fudge achieved it all in five months, not even halfway to his 18th birthday.

Photo credit: Riot Games

With all that in mind, Fudge was grateful for the opportunity to represent his region and compete at Worlds. More importantly, though, he got a taste of international competition at both his bootcamp in South Korea and the eventual stage matches in Europe. Fudge remained confident, but the experience humbled him and opened the door for even further improvement.

“It was a pretty big reality check because I had never played in any other region, I hadn’t even bootcamped in Korean solo queue or anything like that. I only ever played in Oceania,” Fudge explained. “Playing against international top laners was way harder than Oceanic players. When I first went there, it was a big learning period during the bootcamp. I enjoyed it a lot, I enjoy playing against players that are just better than me and can teach me a lot.”

MAMMOTH didn’t exactly turn heads with a 2-2 Play-In stage record at Worlds, but staying competitive with the Unicorns of Love, who typically headline minor regions at international events, was impressive in itself. Fudge remarked that MAMMOTH was a special team, but ultimately, the individual players themselves drew more interest abroad after the event. Former MAMMOTH support and current Immortals support, Destiny, joined Origen in Europe, while Fudge’s next major career stop was in North America where he joined MAMMOTH AD carry Kk1ng on Cloud9 Academy.

Coming to North America

“Obviously every other region flames North America. When I first came to North America, I thought, ‘well, these players are probably not going to be that good,’ but I came and they were a lot better than I had ever played against before,” Fudge said. “Playing in North America and talking to a lot of players and coaches here -- I think they have a lot of good knowledge about the game that they don’t necessarily implement.”

Fudge acknowledges that North America still has its issues -- the region might have good knowledge, but the teams aren’t always the best at identifying their issues. Still, it was a legitimate jump in competition compared to the OPL and Fudge enjoyed playing in North America with his new teammates. MAMMOTH was a dream team, but North America and Cloud9 Academy were the home for his new dream, competing in the LCS.

Photo credit: Riot Games

In a stroke of luck for Fudge, that dream became even easier to realize. On Oct. 7, 2020, Riot Games announced the dissolution of the OPL, granting all Oceanic players North American residency. Initially, the news was shocking, confusing and even harmful for some pros, but it was a welcome change for an Oceanic player already in North America.

“I had a really bad sleep schedule because I was still in North America and couldn’t go back to Oceania in the offseason due to visa stuff,” Fudge said. “The [World Championship] schedule started at 1 a.m. so I was waking up at 11 p.m. I think the article came out around 10:30 p.m. about how OPL was being destroyed and Oceanic players counted as residents in North America. When I woke up, my manager messaged me like, ‘holy s---, come to the room right now. We need to talk.’”

That wasn’t the moment that Fudge was promoted to Cloud9’s LCS team, but it was an immediate bonus for him as an individual player. Fudge was already performing well in Academy and becoming a native resident only made his ascension to LCS that much more clear. Fudge was promoted to LCS just a few weeks later and, for the most part, has been a rock for Cloud9 during the 2021 season.

Slow starts and success with Cloud9

Fudge drew significant criticism for his performances during the 2021 Lock In tournament, a tournament that preceded the start of the LCS spring split, but he has looked stronger each and every week since. Fudge acknowledges his slow start, but that just feels like a part of his process. After all, Cloud9 were the champions of the Mid-Season Showdown and North America’s Mid-Season Invitational representatives this year thanks in part to his rapid development in the top lane.

Unfortunately for Cloud9, the 2021 Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) did not follow the same cadence of steady improvement, as they struggled to maintain consistency across their games. Cloud9 exited the MSI Rumble Stage with a 3-7 record, but it was far from a lost cause. Cloud9’s gameplay, while inconsistent, showcased great potential, and Fudge looked like a superstar as he faced off against the world’s best.

“I played a lot better than I expected to be honest. Going into the tournament, I was expecting the Korean and Chinese top laners to just completely annihilate everyone,” Fudge said. “When I started playing against Kim “Khan” Dong-ha specifically, I felt like he was very beatable. We beat Royal Never Give Up and DWG KIA which was a big surprise to everyone, but … everyone also thought we would beat Japan and Oceania pretty easily …”

Photo credit: Riot Games

Those mixed results remain bitter for Cloud9, but ultimately it inspired Fudge to push even harder for his team’s ultimate goal -- qualifying for Worlds.

“There were a lot of ups and downs with [the Mid-Season Invitational], but I was very happy with my individual performance based on the expectations,” he said. “I still made a lot of individual mistakes, though, and I’m still looking to improve on that … and hopefully when we make Worlds, because that will happen, I will improve and play a lot better.”

It all feels like a grand plan for Fudge, who is always pushing himself to be the best he can be. When Cloud9 were struggling to close out games at the Mid-Season Invitational, Fudge constantly shined as the star of his team. Cloud9 are still struggling to match their spring season form, but Fudge is still at the top of his game and believes in his team.

“It looks like it’s going to be us, Team Liquid, Team SoloMid and 100 Thieves aiming for the Worlds positions,” Fudge said. “We might not even make Worlds if we don’t improve, but I think we’re a team that improves rapidly when we need to and I think that’s what will happen.”

Fudge has a unique history of winning every domestic season he has ever participated in, winning the OPL, North American Academy and the Mid-Season Showdown following the 2019 LCS Spring Split. When he pushes himself to be among the best, his team and the results follow. No matter the start, he and his team find a way.

“Every split I play, it feels like I have a rough start,” Fudge said. “First week of Academy, I had a rough start. First split of LCS, I had a rough start. And now we had a rough start again in [summer split] … so it’s all coming together.”

Lead photo credit: Riot Games