Cloudy with a Chance of Havoc: Cloud9 announces full starting Valorant roster for 2024 VCT season
As we continue into the Valorant professional off-season, news continues to surface on roster moves. Cloud9 is the latest team to make a move, announcing their new full starting roster. After a startling decision to bench 3 of their starting 5 coming into the off-season, Cloud9 was left with only Erick “Xeppaa” Bach and Jake “jakee” Anderson.
Jordan “Zellsis” Montemurro, Dylan “runi” Cade, Nathan “leaf” Orf, and Mateja “qpert” Mijović were all released from Cloud9’s active roster. Moreover, head coach Matthew “mCe” Elmore was also let go following a disastrous and disappointing end to their 2023 season.
To that end, Cloud9 has now announced the acquisition of former G2 talents Maxim “wippie” Shepelev and Francis “OXY” Hoang. Furthermore, former IGL Anthony “vanity” Malaspina will also be returning to the roster after nearly a year. Former G2 Head Coach Ian “Immi” Harding was also signed.
A Year of Toil
For these new pickups, the timing could not have been better. Both “wippie” and “OXY” found themselves out of a job after their failed run at Ascension. G2’s newest acquisition, the former-The Guard roster, will instead take their place as G2 join the other partner teams in VCT Americas next year.
Under the G2 banner, both players had showcased brilliance, placing 3rd in the first regular split, finishing 2nd in the Face Off event. However, it had all been downhill from there, placing 11th in the second regular split and 5th-6th in the Playoffs (did not qualify for Ascension).
Moreover, “vanity,” who spent time in the North American Valorant Challengers League (VCL) under Shopify Rebellion, will finally return to the Tier 1 scene. “vanity” had announced his departure from Cloud9 in early March 2023 following the news that Cloud9 was removing Jaccob “yay” Whiteaker from the active roster. It was rumoured that “vanity” was released as a further attempt by the organization to correct their internal synergy issues. However, after a year of playing in the lower leagues and struggling to compete on the Shopify Rebellion roster, his faith in Cloud9 seems to have been renewed.
Cloud9 – Sky High for Moments
In the weeks after Cloud9 replaced “vanity” and “yay,” their immediate replacements in “jakee” and “runi” looked incredible. Cloud9, during the regular season of VCT Americas, won 8 of the 9 matches. They only lost to LOUD, then considered the strongest team in the Americas League. This set the stage for expectations of this team heading into Playoffs.
However, fans of Cloud9 were bound for disappointment as the team suffered an early loss to Evil Geniuses, sending them to the lower brackets. They were able to nab a win over Leviatán, but it was short-lived as NRG came back to defeat them in a close 3-map series.
Having failed to qualify for Masters: Tokyo, Cloud9 had one more opportunity to redeem themselves, the Americas Last Chance Qualifiers (LCQ) for VCT Champions. Despite their victory over Sentinels, Cloud9 took back-to-back losses to both KRU Esports and Leviatán in a karmic revenge tour that saw them drop out of the LCQ in 3rd place (just barely not qualifying).
Cloud9- A New/Old Era of Cloudwalkers
Cloud9’s newest acquisitions also reunites three of the members from a former roster. “vanity”, “wippie” and “immi” were all members of the Version1 roster back in 2021. Now along with the combined star power of “Xeppaa” and “OXY”, not forgetting “jakee”, they have enough firepower to truly contend with some of the world’s best. “vanity” continues to be considered one of the best IGLs that North American Valorant has produced, having studied under North American legend Joshua “steel” Nissan during his time in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.
The sentiment remains cautiously optimistic, with the over-hyped news of Cloud9’s super roster for 2023 still fresh in everyone’s minds. Whilst there is a solid chance for Cloud9’s roster to do well, we remain speculative until results prove otherwise.
Cloud9’s roster, as it stands, is currently as follows:
- Erick “Xeppaa” Bach
- Jake “jakee” Anderson
- Maxim “wippie” Shepelev
- Francis “OXY” Hoang
- Anthony “vanity” Malaspina
- Ian “Immi” Harding (Head Coach)
Follow Cloud9's Twitter for their latest news and announcements. Read More: VCT 2024 Rostermania tracker.
Read More:
Cloud9 prepares for 2024 VCT Season without star duelist.
The Once King: Yay finds a new home on Bleed Esports for VCT 2024.
Credit: via Cloud9 Twitter