He may lack a ton of professional experience in other titles, but Cloud9 Blue’s Michael “poiz” Possis doesn’t lack poise or confidence. The young man was brought in initially as a sixth-man when Cloud9 Blue re-tooled its roster in 2021 but ended up starting heading into stage two of the VALORANT Champions Tour. His level of play helped the team earn a Challengers Final spot at Challengers Two, and he was pivotal in their opening round win over Team Envy.
C9 Blue looks to succeed on the back of a rising star on Jett. Image via Riot/Cloud9.
After Cloud9’s win over Envy, poiz sat down with Hotspawn to discuss his rise in confidence and what he thinks the ceiling is for himself and Cloud9.
Hotspawn: How do you feel about your win?
poiz: Feels good. Envy’s a really good team. I think that since we showed we can beat them, we should be considered one of the top teams now.
Hotspawn: You’ve stepped up massively since initially joining as a sixth man. Now you’re a starter, and you’ve been pivotal to this big run. How does this compare to the expectations you had when you joined?
poiz: I didn’t have any real expectations because I was so new to the whole pro scene. I was kind of just going with the flow. But practice has been going well, and we’ve been winning a lot of matches, so I’m happy so far.
Hotspawn: It’s a good situation you’re in with lots of different experiences from your teammates. What’s the biggest improvement you’ve seen in yourself that you can credit them with?
poiz: They’re always talking to me about confidence; in this game, it’s really important to have. When I first joined, I was having problems because I was so new. But they’ve really been helping me out with that, and now I think it’s showing in the matches.
Hotspawn: Big shoes to fill with when playing Jett, given how much focus is given to TenZ. Were you nervous at all stepping up to the starter position in his absence?
poiz: TenZ is obviously a really good player, if not the best player, so it was quite a bit of pressure. But the more I play, the more experience I get, I can definitely get to his level.
Hotspawn: Would you be up for a rematch between Cloud9 Blue and Sentinels?
poiz: Oh yeah, but we probably wouldn’t play Yoru this time [laughs]. Definitely stick to Reyna and Jett.
Hotspawn: You’ve been piecing together more and more impressive wins this stage, and this one over Envy is perhaps the most impressive. How confident are you in the long-term success of this team?
poiz: Yeah, we’re just going to keep better and better. If we keep practicing the way we have, there’s no slowing down.
