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Cloud9 have completed their roster by signing North American superstars Jaccob “yay” Whiteaker and Jordan “Zellsis” Montemurro in preparation for the 2023 Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) season.
The young stars will be joining a potent C9 lineup that already features Anthony “vanity” Malaspina, Nathan “leaf” Orf, and Erick “Xeppaa” Bach. Cloud9 posted a video on their Twitter feed that introduces the entirety of the team that will compete in the VCT 2023 season.
This transfer reunites vanity and Zellsis after their brief but successful run together with Version1 in 2021, which was the first destination for both players after exiting Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Zellsis demonstrated during his time at Version1 and Sentinels that he is capable of matching the most skilled players in the North American Valorant scene.
Yay played a pivotal role in OpTic Gaming finishing all three international VCT tournaments in the top three this year. However, with OpTic being overlooked for a partnership with Riot Games for the upcoming Valorant season, the star player was forced to look elsewhere in order to continue plying his trade at the highest level.
The 2023 Cloud 9 lineup will be coached by Matthew “mCe” Elmore, who was formerly with The Guard. He was instrumental in that team’s victory over OpTic Gaming in the VCT 2022 Stage 1 Challengers.
The Guard brought on Mateja “qpert” Mijović as an assistant coach before the Last Chance Qualifier, where they finished in second place. He and mCe will continue to work together in 2023, and qpert will relocate to North America to take the sixth and final spot in the lineup.
Next year, Cloud9 will participate in the VCT Americas league alongside fellow North American teams Sentinels, Evil Geniuses, NRG, and 100 Thieves.
