Cloud9’s VALORANT roster has faced a rumored departure, as the team is set to move forward without Jaccob “yay” Whiteaker, according to reporter Max “purest” Katz. The news comes less than a week after their elimination from the VCT LOCK//IN event.
At first glance, this move seems unprecedented, and it truly is. With yay being the biggest offseason acquisition and the star focus of the roster, his departure after only seven series across two preseason tournaments is a staggering development.
However, there’s a question of whether yay is actually leaving. C9 has a history of trolling their audience, and they have recently done so with yay, playing up that he had taken on the in-game leader role while at Red Bull Home Ground.
Confirmation: yay is leaving the Cloud9 VALORANT roster
Data from George Geddes on reveals that Cloud9 and yay have officially agreed to part ways. Both parties will sign to terminate yay’s contract. The mutual release is not due to performance issues, and yay will leave the organization.
C9 is expected to start trials in early March, with no apparent additional roster moves incoming. One of the listed players to trial is Jimmy “Marved” Nguyen, the former OpTic Gaming player known for his exceptional skills as a controller agent.
Potential landing spots for yay if he leaves Cloud9
While speculative, here are a few potential destinations for yay:
NRG
A reunion with the OpTic core, with whom yay found the most success, appears to be the most likely scenario. Under the leadership of coach Chet and in-game leader FNS, yay established himself as one of the best players in the world.
However, finding a spot for him might be challenging. Crashies, s0m, and FNS have defined roles as the primary initiator, controller, and in-game leader, respectively. Alternatively, yay could replace the player who replaced him, but it may be difficult for NRG to let go of ardiis so soon.
Evil Geniuses
Considering the NA teams in VCT Americas that are not Cloud9 or NRG, EG might have a good chance of landing yay. 100T seems content with their team, and Sentinels may not be able to afford both TenZ and yay.
EG has a 10-man roster project, and adding yay would be an interesting way to complete the group. They have a solid structure and talent development system in VALORANT, with various pieces that could be trialed and experimented with around yay.
EMEA
It’s not unheard of for players to move from NA to EMEA for success, like Twistzz did in CS:GO. Could yay replicate this by joining an English-speaking struggling team in the midst of the EMEA season? It’s a specific scenario, but not impossible.
If a team with high expectations, such as Liquid or Fnatic, starts off slow, or if Giants or KOI need a boost, yay could inject some energy into the roster.
With yay’s departure from Cloud9, both parties now have limitless possibilities ahead.