Sources: IWDominate set to join Cloud9 as Strategic Coach for the LCS 2026

Christian “IWDominate” Rivera is set to become Cloud9’s Strategic Coach for the 2026 LCS Season, according to sources close to Sheep Esports. The organization is entering the next LCS season with the will to shake some things up. Primarily a content creator in recent years, he’s been working with the team throughout almost the entire 2025 season. IWDominate is now promoted to new head coach Nicholas "Inero" Smith’s coaching staff and will aim to help the organization find a way to reclaim its glory in the league.

IWDominate also received interest from Team Liquid as a coach. This move means IWDominate will no longer be a full time streamer or content creator, as he will shift his focus towards working with Cloud9 as a coach in person. During the LTA North 2025 season, he hinted on stream that he was considering taking a break from streaming to focus more on coaching.

At 35 years old, IWDominate brings over 15 years of competitive experience within North American League of Legends. A veteran jungler and well-known streamer, he made his professional start in the early years of the LCS, notably competing for Dignitas, Curse Academy and Team Liquid in LCS between 2012 and 2015. No longer titular, he became both a sub and a coach within the organization before stepping back from active play in 2016. Rivera then transitioned into content creation with Team Liquid before joining Cloud9 in 2020, again as a creator. He remained with the organization for two and a half years before becoming a fully independent streamer.

In early 2025, Rivera returned closer to the competitive scene, joining the ambitious Ruddy Sack project in the NLC as a costreamer. Surrounded by several European veterans such as Jakob “YamatoCannon” Mebdi, Luka "Perkz" Perković, and Marcin "Jankos" Jankowski, the project generated strong interest but ultimately failed to deliver on the Rift. During that same period, IWDominate was already consulting for Cloud9 behind the scenes.

Known as much for his outspoken personality and analytical approach as for his activity on Twitter, IWDominate’s arrival signals a will to strengthen the core of Cloud9 after a challenging year. The team entered 2025 with high expectations, having invested heavily in new South Korean talent. Toplaner Park “Thanatos” Seung-gyu, who joined in Summer 2024, was joined by midlaner Lee “Loki” Sang-min, recruited to replace Joseph “Jojopyun” Pyun. The team also reunited one of North America’s most iconic bot lanes by bringing back Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen alongside Philippe “Vulcan” Laflamme.

On paper, Cloud9 looked like championship contenders. In practice, however, the team fell short at each turn. With the immortal jungler Robert “Blaber” Huang leading the charge, Cloud9 suffered a string of near-misses: falling to Team Liquid in Split 1, losing the Split 2 grand final going to game 5 against FlyQuest, and crumbling to a resurgent 100 Thieves in Split 3. The results left them without qualification for MSI or Worlds—victims of the new LTA format, which limited international slots. Their only international appearance came at the Esports World Cup, where they were eliminated swiftly after losing two best-of-one matches to FlyQuest, again, and FURIA.

While no roster changes have been confirmed yet for the upcoming offseason, Cloud9 is clearly taking steps to bring a new dynamic. The hiring of IWDominate marks the first major move in their preparation for 2026, a season in which the organization will aim to reclaim its place among North America’s elite. Having last lifted an LCS trophy in Spring 2023, Cloud9 is betting on Rivera’s mix of experience and knowledge of the team to break their two-year title drought and bring the team back to domestic dominance.