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Brace yourselves. The superteams are coming for the VCT 2023, starting with Cloud9.
Riot Games’ announcement of their 30 partnered teams was big news. Unfortunately, many top-tier organizations shockingly didn’t secure a spot. And what followed was the start of what might be the craziest RosterMania of not just Valorant but any ESport in recent memory.
Players on teams that didn’t secure a partnership have entered restricted free agency in droves. No surprise there; competitive Valorant will be a different breed starting in 2023, and it makes sense for players to get themselves a spot on a partnered team. But even more surprising is that partnered teams are making significant roster adjustments too. One such team is Cloud9.
As one of the strongest teams in NA, Cloud9 was an unsurprising pick for partnership. However, with NA becoming the Americas League, Cloud9 will have stiffer competition next year. And it looks like Cloud9 isn’t wasting time on becoming the first new superteam of Valorant.
As first reported by Dot Esports several days ago, Jacob “yay” Whiteaker is joining join Cloud9. OpTic Gaming not becoming a partner was arguably the biggest shock from Riot’s announcement.
With the recent news that @OpTic denied into the partnership program, I’ve been allowed to explore new opportunities as a restricted F/A. I am open to all partnership teams in both North America and EMEA.
If interested: DM me or contact my agent @ggbench
— OpTic yay (@yay) September 22, 2022
OpTic Gaming was arguably the most consistent Valorant team this year. And as arguably the single best Valorant player in the world, there was no chance yay wouldn’t move on to a new organization. There was initially a slight glimmer of hope that the OpTic core would stick together wherever they ended up, but that’s unfortunately not the case.
Not satisfied with one major acquisition, Cloud9 hit the Valorant world with a knockout double, as Dot Esports has also reported that Cloud9 will be signing Zellsis too.
Zellsis is formerly an active member of Version1. He temporarily competed with the Sentinels alongside Shroud and the rest of the gang in the NA VCT Last-Chance Qualifiers. After the Sentinels dropped out of the Last-Chance Qualifiers, Zellsis returned to Version1.
With Version1 being denied for partnership, they’ve allowed me to explore my options for partnered organizations.
Restricted F/A. can play all roles.
DMs or [email protected]
— Jordan Montemurro (@Zellsis) September 21, 2022
With Version1 failing to earn a partnered spot, everyone knew Zellsis would be leaving. But seeing as how he’s already competed with the Sentinels and seemed to function well on that team, that’s where we all thought he’d go.
Apparently not. Apparently, Zellsis is heading to Cloud9. That is sure to put the organization on, well, Cloud9.
Zellsis and yay will presumably take the two active roster spots left vacant after Cloud9 placed curry and mitch on the inactive roster. They will be joining leaf, vanity, and Xeppaa. There has been nothing to suggest these three are going anywhere.
Franchising has ushered in an era of superteams, and it looks like Cloud9 will be the first. Be sure to stay tuned for more RosterMania 2022 news!
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