Following a disappointing Group Stage exit in the Americas Kickoff, Cloud9 has released their Russian import, Maxim “wippie” Shepelev. The North American organization has not announced his replacement.
Today we part ways with @wippiecs from our team.
From Red Bull Double Agent to VCT Kickoff, thank you for being part of our team and we wish nothing but best of luck to you Maxim 💙 pic.twitter.com/WWy2hovXjm
— Cloud9 VALORANT (@C9VAL) March 6, 2024
Shepelev began his Valorant career in 2020, finally getting his opportunity to play for an established team in 2021 with Version1 before getting picked up by G2 Esports. In G2, wippie played with notable players, including Michael “dapr” Gulino and Shahzeb “ShaZam” Khan. After lackluster results, wippie and Francis “OXY” Hoang were picked up by Cloud9.
The new iteration of Cloud9 started as a mess, with players being dropped and picked up left and right. Eventually, under the helm of Anthony “vanity” Malaspina, Cloud9 was set to play in the Americas Kickoff and had a decent shot at dealing some damage.
In the Kickoff tournament, Cloud9 had an excellent start, defeating MIBR in a close 2-1 to win their first series of the event. Wippie was the most impactful Cloud9 player in the opening match, ending the series with a KDA of 44/37/17 and a rating of 1.11, the highest on the server.
Unfortunately, luck was not on the side of Cloud9, as they had to immediately face NRG, the newly crafted star-studded roster, in the second round. The boys in blue were blown out in the first map, Sunset, but put up a great fight in Ascent. Still, a 14-12 loss on the second map meant Cloud9 had to rematch MIBR in elimination.
Though Cloud9 was a heavy favorite going into the series against the Brazilian squad, the result of the matchup changed, with MIBR coming out on top with a 2-0 finish. On Viper and Killjoy, wippie ended the series 25/33/12, as one of the lowest-performing players.
With the early Group Stage exit, wippie was woefully the player to take the hit. Effective immediately, the 24-year-old is now a free agent. He is as motivated as ever and is willing to seek a new home in another region.
Free agent starting today. My time with C9 did not go as planned but I am thankful to them, my teammates and the fans for the opportunity and support. I want to get back to playing as soon as possible. Looking at all offers and I am open to change region if needed. Any inquiries… https://t.co/1Fsheyqnia
— wippie (@wippiecs) March 6, 2024
The Cloud9 roster after wippie’s departure:
- Anthony “vanity” Malaspina
- Francis “OXY” Hoang
- Jake “jakee” Anderson
- Erick “Xeppaa” Bach
The roster scrambles to find a new player to fill the vacant spot. They have just shy of a month to trial candidates, as the team’s next gig is the VALORANT Challengers 2024: North America Split 1, starting April 1.
