Valorant pros react as yay leaves Cloud9: “They did you dirty”

Cloud9 officially confirmed that Jaccob ‘yay’ Whiteaker has parted ways with the organization. The professional Valorant community rallied around yay after he announced his free-agent status.

Cloud9officially confirmed multiple reportsaround its star Valorant player yay byannouncingthat he and the team have parted ways. After the announcement came out, in addition to yayputting out his own statementthat he was now a free agent, multiple fans and fellow players rallied around him online.

Cloud9 yay

The Valorant community reacts to Cloud9 dropping yay

They did you dirty, head up brotha 🐐

Many of yay’s former teammates from his time on OpTic Gaming responded to his post with thoughtful words, including Austin ‘crashies’ Roberts andPujan ‘FNS’ Mehta.

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“They did you dirty, head up brotha,” crashiessaid.

Other pros, like LOUD’sErick ‘aspas’ Santosand DRX’s Byung-chul ‘BuZz’ Yu, also sent best wishes to the world-class player.

Gl yay ur the best 💚pic.twitter.com/KjXS1y5uzP

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Others went to Cloud9’s own statement to voice their displeasure with the move, accusing the team of either not being fully transparent with the move or the esports landscape in general.

You don’t bench the best player in the world from the year prior because of role issues, and you certainly don’t DROP them entirely letting them become unrestricted F/A.Somebody really really dropped the ball and screwed up here.https://t.co/QSHMvnCOvP

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“You don’t bench the best player in the world from the year prior because of role issues, and you certainly don’t DROP them entirely letting them become unrestricted F/A. Somebody really really dropped the ball and screwed up here,” Valorant caster Arten ‘Ballatw’ Esasaidin response to Cloud9’s statement.

Fellow Valorant analyst Jessica ‘Jess’ Bolden also commented on the move, contextualizing it within the larger esports market downturn that has been going in.

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See what I mean? You could be one of the literal BEST PLAYERS IN THE WORLD and be dropped. Esports is just a fucking nightmare. No one makes decisions that make sense. This year has just been people dropping the ball on incredibly valuable people and it’s exhausting.https://t.co/jevOVXQBZD

“Esports is just a f***ing nightmare. No one makes decisions that make sense. This year has just been people dropping the ball on incredibly valuable people and it’s exhausting,” Jesssaid.

Cloud9 will go into the mid-season transfer window looking to replace yay and may also potentially make other roster moves in the future.