- Rumors say C9 is looking to buy OpTic’s Jaccob “yay” Whiteaker
- The player has the second highest average combat score and the highest kills per round this season
- He helped OpTic reach second place in the VALORANT Champions Tour 2022
Cloud9 may have struck the deal of a lifetime if the rumors surrounding the acquisition of OpTic star Jaccob “yay” Whiteaker turn out to be true.
Cloud9 Wants Yay
The end of the VALORANT competitive season is coming to an end and organizations are busy preparing for 2023. This often includes the leaving of some players only to be signed by other ones in their place. Some esports organizations have opted to make significant roste4r changes, like Natus Vincere who teased an all-star team for VTC2023. Others, however, have seemingly gone the opposite route, placing all their hopes on just one player.
Cloud9 is such an organization that, according to Dot Esports’ sources, is about to sign the best VALORANT player in the world – Jaccob “yay” Whiteaker. The deal, which is alleged to be completed soon, will see yay join other top VALORANT pros, including Nathan “leaf” Orf, Erick “Xeppaa” Bach, and in-game leader Anthony “vanity” Malaspina.
Yay Saw Massive Success This Season
Coming over to VALORANT from CS:GO, yay has made a name for himself during the 2022 VALORANT Champions Tour. Currently still for OpTic, the 24-year-old player helped his team immensely during the competitive year, being instrumental in OpTic winning the VCT Masters Reykjavík in spring.
Yay continued his string of success during the year, and by the end of the VALORANT Champions, he had become what is arguably the best player in the world. Having the second highest average combat score (254.6) and the highest kills per round (0.93), according to VLR.gg, yay cemented his reputation.
Despite his skills, OpTic was relegated to second place in the VCT 2022 following their defeat against LOUD at the tournament’s finals. OpTic also failed to secure a partnership with developer Riot Games for the Americas international league, which will begin next year. Perhaps these two factors combined prompted either the player, the organization or both, to seek new paths.
The rest of OpTic’s players were also put up for sale, but it was obvious that yay will be in high demand. It seems Cloud9 was the first organization to make a deal for the player, who will come at the place of either Mitch “mitch” Semago or Rahul “curry” Nemani, both of whom were benched on September 22.
Cloud9 has said it wants to rebuild with a six-man roster by the end of October, and by all accounts, the organization is going to do this around the current best VALORANT player on the market.
