Cloud9 drop its entire VALORANT lineup for a renewal

What was an open secret is now a complete reality, as the North American organization Cloud9 confirmed the departure of all players from its VALORANT lineup. As a result, C9 officially starts its renewal this offseason to prepare in the best possible way for the VCT 2024.

Cloud9 had a disappointing year despite having some of the best talent in the region at the beginning of the season. However, the team’s decline started at VCT LOCK//IN, where, in addition to showing a really low level of play, they decided to make an unexpected change in the lineup.

After failing to achieve any important achievements during the season, they dropped four players and their Head Coach, Matthew “mCe” Elmore. Likewise, let’s remember that the departure of mCe and Dylan “runi” Cade was reported days ago, but it was not until September 15 that the organization made it official.

Cloud9 make official the start of the renovation of its VALORANT team

Through a statement on its Twitter/X account, Cloud9 announced the departure of four of its players and Head Coach, mCe.

End of an era of Cloud9 VALORANT

Thank you for an incredible year @leaf_cs, @Zellsis, @runiVL, @qpert999, @MatthewCElmore! 💙 pic.twitter.com/ynmlK5mZM9

— Cloud9 VALORANT (@C9VAL) September 15, 2023

This announcement seems to come a bit late, considering that Jordan “Zellsis” Montemurro, one of the departing players, had already been announced by Sentinels for VCT 2024. On the other hand, we have Dylan “runi” Cade, Mateja “qpert” Mijović, and Nathan “leaf” Orf are free agents and are exploring their options heading into next season.

As we mentioned, Cloud9 had a disappointing year, and there is no doubt that we all expected a drastic change in the lineup, considering that they didn’t even qualify to VCT Masters Tokyo or VALORANT Champions 2023.

Leaf’s departure comes as a surprise

While it is true that Zellsis signed for Sentinels and runi and qpert may get a new home very soon, there is no doubt that Leaf’s departure comes as a surprise, considering that he is one of the most promising young talents in the VALORANT competitive scene.

While C9 didn’t have the expected results, the 19-year-old star had a mind-blowing rookie season, as he was in the TOP 3 in the VCT Americas League offensive stats, according to VLR.gg.

Irregular year for Cloud9

Similarly, during the entire 2023 season, Cloud9 was not able to be a consistent team, especially after letting go of two stars like Anthony “vanity” Malaspina and Jaccob “yay” Whiteaker after the VCT LOCK//IN Sao Paulo 2023. As a result, everything started to go dark in the organization after they signed a college player and, most importantly, a Challengers player. However, the team started to improve and was one of the best in NA.

When the regular season came to an end, Cloud9 surprisingly was sitting in a tie for first place in the standings with LOUD, with an excellent 8-1 record. However, their playoff run ended very early after losing to Evil Geniuses and NRG, so they were out of the running for the VALORANT Champions 2023 in their first instance.

Finally, the team put the icing on the cake by being unable to overcome the VCT LCQ Americas after losing to Leviathan.

Similarly, Cloud9 appears to be in talks to sign Francis “OXY” Hoang and vanity ahead of VCT 2024. As a result, Erick “Xeppaa” Bach and Jake “jakee” Anderson would have to adapt to a completely new lineup to look for success in the upcoming VCT season.

Header: Cloud9