C9 OXY on Missing Another International Event: "It's Very Heartbreaking"

C9 OXY on Missing Another International Event: "It's Very Heartbreaking"

Cloud9 player Francis " OXY " Hoang described the 2026 season as an uphill battle in a post-match interview with Sheep Esports following the team's 0-2 defeat to BESTIA on August 19. The loss in the opening round of the lower bracket at the VCT 2026: Americas Stage 2 Play-In eliminated Cloud9 and left the team outside the playoffs.

Cloud9 's Difficult Stage 2 Campaign
Looking back on the campaign, OXY pointed to several gaps in Cloud9 's game. He also mentioned the coaching change and multiple roster adjustments that affected the team's preparation during the season.

There were a lot of holes in our stuff, and we tried to patch the boat and move on with them. It wasn't the best year or the best season for us because we did make the head coach swap and a bunch of swaps coming into the season. We just did what we could. We did the best we could with what we had.

The conversation then moved to Breeze, where Cloud9 suffered a 10-13 loss to BESTIA. OXY admitted that the team underperformed individually and included himself among the players who failed to reach their usual level.

For Breeze, I don't know if we just come in differently or how the map is played, but we're just very confident on Breeze and the way that we had everything played. We were just very good on the map. But today was a little different. I feel like today was just a very bad day for us individually, even from myself. I played very poorly to my standard, and it just wasn't what we needed to win.

Despite the defeat, OXY explained that Breeze and Split had generally suited Cloud9 because the players understood how to use their strengths on both maps, even with limited practice.

I feel like we just understood these maps. Split and Breeze especially, we just really understood the maps and knew how to play to our strengths as a team. We didn't have much practice on all the maps, but on Split, we still just understood how to play the map together correctly. I think that's why it really worked out well for us on Split, and for Breeze, it was the same thing.

OXY on His Individual Performance
Assessing his own form, OXY said he did not consider the season either his best or his worst. However, he acknowledged that he rarely felt capable of playing at his full potential and suggested that stress may have affected his performance.

For my individual performance, I feel like this year was okay. I didn't think it was the best or the worst. I don't know how to compare it to the other years, but I will say this year I definitely didn't feel 100%. Even today, I felt I was playing at maybe 70% or 80%. I wasn't fully there today and in general this season. I don't know where it comes from, maybe stress or whatever happened this year. Too many things happened, but I feel like there's a lot better side of me that still can be shown. We're just going to have to see what happens in the upcoming tournaments and next year.

Confidence Problems During the Play-In

Cloud9 entered the Play-In after defeating 100 Thieves 2-0 in the group stage. The team then recovered from losing the opening map against Fluxo W7M , but OXY felt that Cloud9 never reproduced the confidence it had shown earlier in the competition.

We came in very confident, and I feel like throughout that week coming into playoffs, we started off a little not hot, in a sense. Coming into the game against Fluxo W7M , we lost the first map and it was pretty bad, but then we brought it back. Then coming into EG again, it was not bad, but it wasn't fully us that we showed against 100 Thieves. I think we were just not confident. That's the best way to say it.

Another Year Without an International Appearance
OXY called missing another international tournament heartbreaking. He compared the result with the previous season, when Cloud9 finished four rounds short of defeating NRG and qualifying for VALORANT Champions.

It's very heartbreaking for another year to not qualify to any events or to not go to any internationals. It's very frustrating. But I will say this year especially was just an uphill battle for me. It was a very long and very hard-fought year. So I'm not necessarily as sad as I was the other years. Last year was probably my saddest one. We were literally one game away, four rounds away from qualifying for Champions and beating NRG, but then letting it slip away.

This year, I felt like every single month was just a long, hard fight, no matter what it was. Kickoff was pretty good, but every single month after Kickoff was a long year. Actually, no, Kickoff was not fun. I forgot I had that little thing happen to me, and then every month after this and whatever happened, it was just a hard, long year. So I'm just glad I made it through at this point.

Brazilian Support and the Main Lesson of the Season
The player also thanked Cloud9 's Brazilian supporters, many of whom began following the team through assistant coach Heitor "TcK" Tomazela.

The support is unreal. I feel like a lot of our fans are from TcK and our Brazilian fan base. I'm very happy that we have those fans. It's really great to have, especially when the year's been a very long year. I'm very happy and honestly love TcK. He's so funny.

OXY concluded the post-match interview by naming resilience as the most important lesson he took from Stage 2 and the season as a whole.

For this Stage 2, the main lesson that I learned was just resilience and fighting through. I feel like that was the biggest thing I learned through this year. A lot has happened, and I still made it through. You just have to wait and see until the result shows one day that you can make it through.

Cloud9 began the Play-In with a 2-1 victory over Fluxo W7M before suffering consecutive losses to Evil Geniuses and BESTIA. OXY has represented the organization since September 2023 but has yet to compete at an international VCT event with Cloud9 .