VCT analysts see Bleed with yay as a potential top-three VCT Pacific team

VCT analysts seem high on Bleed Esports and its recent signing of Valorant superstar Jaccob ‘yay’ Whiteaker even after the player had a lackluster 2023 season.

Bleed Esports signing yay was a bit of a shock to the Valorant community, as many expected the North American star to return to Tier 1 competition in VCT Americas. The newly-promoted VCT Pacific team managed to get the star on their squad, however, and look poised to take over the league with the new player.

However, after yay’s unsuccessful stint on Disguised in the North American Challengers League, some might not be as high on the player as they once were.

Across the VCT 2023 season, yay went 1-1 at VCT LOCK//IN with Cloud9 and then went 0-7 with Disguised as that squad was eventually relegated from the NA Challengers League.

VCT analysts and casters don’t seem to think the superstar has lost his touch and said they could see Bleed reach the top three in VCT Pacific in a recent episode of the Valorant esports podcast Plat Chat.

Bleed should have high expectations with yay on the roster

VCT caster and analyst Josh ‘Sideshow’ Wilkinson said he could see yay performing well on Bleed if the organization builds around him. However, he did say yay could have some catching up to do after being away from Tier 1 for so long.

“It’s actually really difficult to jump back into Tier 1 competition if you’ve taken some level of a break or you haven’t constantly been keeping up,” Sideshow said.

Mimi ‘aEvilcat’ Wermcrantz also chimed in, saying she could see this Bleed roster missing its first chance at international competition and then growing into a more competitive roster.

“I don’t think this is a roster that’s going to come out of the gate swinging and shock everyone with how good they are. But, it’s another team that with time and a bit of space to develop, I could see this squad being at like a Masters 2 and being at a point where they could be in that upper side of VCT Pacific,” she said.

The analysts added that this team has a chance to capitalize on how weak and disjointed the league looks as many squads are rebuilding their rosters from the ground up this off-season.

Bleed also has a solid core three of players that it managed to keep from last season, which dominated many of its matches in their Challengers League.

“I am excited to watch this team, no matter what happens. But, at least I also feel like they could be at the top of the table. I think top three is pretty reasonable,” VCT Americas analyst Wyatt River said.