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Cloud9 have revealed their full Valorant Champions Tour 2023 season roster in a viral video on their Twitter account.
New signings Jaccob "yay" Whiteaker and Jordan "Zellsis" Montemurro will join the three returning 2022 C9 players, Anthony "vanity" Malaspina, Nathan "leaf" Orf, and Erick "Xeppaa" Bach, in the lineup. The Guard's former head coach Matthew "mCe" Elmore and sixth man Mateja "qpert" Mijovic round out the team.
Cloud9's preparing for VCT 2023 by building a formidable Valorant roster
Matthew "mCe" Elmore will lead the 2023 Cloud9 squad. Since OpTic Gaming did not get a Valorant franchise, the first rift has arisen, with yay migrating to Cloud9.
This is a superstar-level signing for Cloud9 as yay aided OpTic Gaming to a Masters championship this year as well as other impressive achievements over the last two years.
Meanwhile, Zellsis' performances on Version1 and Sentinels' rosters have proven that he is capable of defeating the best in the North American Valorant scene.
Despite a poor playoff performance in VCT 2022's Stage 1 Challengers, he demonstrated his skills after joining Sentinels later in the year and assisting them in their Last Chance Qualifier run. He joined Cloud9 after a brief spell with Version1.
Zellsis and vanity are now formally reunited after their successful 2021 stint in Version1.
Last but not least, both mCe and qpert were members of NA Valorant group The Guard. In the VCT 2022 Stage 1 Challengers, mCe led them to a win over OpTic Gaming.
The team recruited qpert as an assistant coach before their Last Chance Qualifier run, in which they finished second.
In 2023, both individuals will continue together, with qpert going over to NA to occupy the sixth slot in the C9 roster.
qpert is a relatively obscure person in the competitive scene, despite having been a member of both the Guard and Team Liquid for the previous three months. His contributions have been as an assistant coach and analyst. His role with Cloud9 will include assisting mCe as well as serving as a possible replacement for the squad.
Despite his brief stint with The Guard, qpert was largely regarded as one of the primary reasons for the team's victorious 2022 NA LCQ run.
The new Cloud9 Valorant roster for the VCT 2023 season is as follows:
- Nathan “leaf” Orf
- Erick “Xeppaa” Bach
- Anthony “vanity” Malaspina
- Jaccob “yay” Whiteaker
- Jordan “Zellsis” Montemurro
- Matthew “mCe” Elmore (Coach)
- Mateja “qpert” Mijovic (Substitute)
With the new signings, it's clear that Cloud9 are taking advantage of the large free agency market to build a powerful squad. They have always been considered a strong NA team. However, they experienced a slight setback at the end of the 2022 season.
The team's future seems bright now that they've recruited yay, who is widely regarded as one of the best players in the world.
It will now be up to these new members to work together and win matches. If their players live up to expectations, Cloud9 will be a formidable force in VCT 2023.
