Cloud9 set to sign Valorant star yay from OpTic Gaming, report says

Cloud9 is set to sign OpTic Gaming superstar Jaccob ‘yay’ Whiteaker for the 2023 Valorant Champions Tour season according to a report from Dot Esports.

Cloud9 is working on creating a super team for the upcoming 2023 VCT season as the organization is reportedly set to sign OpTic Gaming player yay according to a report from Dot Esports.

yay was statistically the best player in the world over the course of 2022 as OpTic placed top three across all three major international events this year. OpTic did not make it into the Riot Games’ partnered leagues and thus the Valorant roster has been up for sale for organizations to pick over for the next year.

Cloud9 seems to be the first organization to cement a deal with one of the former OpTic players as yay will join a team with three active members on the roster. Cloud9 benched Mitch ‘mitch’ Semago and Rahul ‘curry’ Nemani on September 22 and have to fill a six-man roster by late October.

Cloud9 yay is coming your way

The former Counter-Strike player played for Andbox (now NYFU) before joining Envy (now OpTic) and has skyrocketed to become a household name in Valorant after bursting onto the scene internationally in 2021.

With yay on the team, OpTic’s lowest placement at an international and domestic VCT event was top 12 at Valorant Champions 2021.

The Cloud9 roster now consists of IGL Nathan ‘leaf’ Orf, Erick ‘Xeppaa’ Bach, Nathan “leaf” Orf and yay. The team still needs to find a fifth starting player and one substitute before the preseason deadline.

Fans will see yay represent the blue and white at the VCT Kickoff tournament in February in São Paulo, Brazil.