VALORANT fans confused as worlds best player still can’t find a Tier 1 team
He's possibly the best player on the planet, but Jaccob "yay" Whiteaker doesn't have a team to play on just one week before the VALORANT Champions Tour Americas 2023 season kicks off.
Yay finished the 2022 season with a Masters trophy in his locker and a Champions silver medal around his neck, having earned countless MVP awards throughout OpTic Gaming's dominance in America.
However, with OpTic controversially failing to make the long-term partnership programme for the new-look 2023 format, Yay moved to Cloud9, in a move which has collapsed within a matter of five months, leaving the superstar teamless.
Yay left without a team for VCT Americas League 2023
Cloud9 stunned the world by dropping both Yay and well-respected star Anthony "Vanity" Malaspina after just a few performances in the sky-blue and white outfit, which included a second-place finish at the Red Bull Home Ground.
Yay was stepping into an unfamiliar IGL role with Cloud9, and Vanity is also a recognised leader in-game, but have both been axed from the lineup ahead of the season. Cloud9 is expected to be bringing in a collegiate-level player in Jake "jake" Anderson, and Susquehanna Soniqs player Dylan "runi" Cade instead.
Now though, it's too late in the night for anyone to make changes to their roster, and Yay is left to his own devices, shredding players for fun on Ranked.
VALORANT personalities can't believe Yay will not be competing in VCT
With the VCT Americas League just eight days away, community personalities still can't fathom that the reigning Esports Player of the Year won't be involved.
"Imagine being one of the best players in the world at your game and you aren’t on a tier 1 team. Not a single person can ever convince me that esports will catch up to traditional sports in my lifetime," said VALORANT caster and personality Jess "JessGOAT" Bolden on Twitter.
With Counter-Strike 2 on the horizon too, it's a scary time for such a player to be left on the market.
Popular journalist George Geddes even joked that "imagine Vanity and yay being cut from C9’s VAL team just to play CS:GO 2 and save North America."
Likely, Yay and Vanity will both be the first players on the free agency list to be snapped up by a team looking for a change, but the consensus is that they both deserve to have teams built around them, rather than be spare parts, especially Yay.