Out for the Season: yay to sit out Tier 1 Valorant in 2023

Who could have seen this coming?

Former Cloud9 and OpTic Gaming star Jaccob “yay” Whiteaker will be sitting out 2023 on the sidelines as VCT Transfer rules prohibit the star talent from partaking in any of the partnered teams. According to the official rulings, the roster adjustment window has now closed. His one slight hope for Tier 1 in 2023 would be as an emergency transfer player. However, the chances of that are slim to none. Should that not come to pass, we will not see El Diablo for the next six months in Tier 1 Valorant.

Celebrated Heights, and the Downfall.

“yay” was widely considered to be the best player not just on OpTic Gaming but in the world in 2022. Since his transfer to Team Envy and subsequent merging of the organization with OpTic Gaming, “yay” has consistently delivered star level performances that especially elevated the role of the Chamber ‘star carry’ to new heights. His infamous low sensitivity coupled with his penchant for methodical eliminations made him seem both doubly unkillable and infallible.

At the end of the 2022 season, in the wake of Champions 2022, Riot Games announced that 30 partner organizations would be selected to continue competing in Tier 1 Valorant. At the time, OpTic Gaming was considered the best team in North America and one of the best in the world. They were so strong, that arguably in 2022, only one other international team could consistently go toe-to-toe and occasionally beat them, LOUD.

OpTic Gaming failed to make partner, and the five-man squad had to separate in all likelihood. “yay” went to Cloud9 to form the much-anticipated North American superteam. That lasted all of about 5 months before it disintegrated after VCT LOCK//IN. Now “yay” finds himself team-less.

Ringing the Death Knell?

His particular set of skills, whilst one of the best in the world, lies in a direction opposite to where the majority of teams are moving towards. His signature agent, Chamber, was gutted at the end of 2022 with a series of nerfs from Riot Games that drastically altered not just the power of the agent, but the landscape of professional Valorant scene. A large number of ‘superteams’ that emerge in the post-partnership announcement centred around building a roster with a Chamber superstar. Cloud9 was one such organization.

When the changes came through, they attempted to adapt, however, role issues meant that “yay” found himself on agents such as Sage on certain maps. “yay” embodied the 2022 idea of the ideal superstar carry. He had essentially two agents in his pool, Jett, and the infamous Chamber. Since Chamber exited, this left him with the necessity of the duelist slot in a meta that often only demanded a single duelist main and an excess of talent capable of playing the role, perhaps not to the same standard.

Now, with his surprise early season departure from Cloud9, there are many teams that would ‘benefit’ from having him, but also very few that can afford to have him and has the roster room for his speciality.

Image credit: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games