Cloud9
Cloud9
North America
Unranked
Xeppaa
Erick Bach
v1c
Victor Truong
mitch
Mitch Semago
neT
Michael Bernet
OXY
Francis Hoang
have mutually decided to part with star player Jaccob "yay"
Whiteaker, marking the end of his four-month stint on the team following the initial window for roster changes.
![](https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1617931105822298112/caBRu3FO_normal.jpg)
In a video featuring Cloud9 founder Jack Etienne and head coach Matthew "mCe" Elmore, the two addressed that the team were looking into changes heading into the regular season of the VCT Americas League and beyond, gearing up for potential fixes on present roster issues. With more than just current results in mind, C9 mutually decided to allow yay to search for new teams before the upcoming season, with the mid-season transfer window beginning on March 6th.
yay began 2022 under
OpTic Gaming
OpTic Gaming
Inactive
with the current
NRG Esports
NRG Esports
North America
Unranked
FiNESSE
Pujan Mehta
s0m
Sam Oh
Verno
Andrew Maust
mada
Adam Pampuch
Ethan
Ethan Arnold
core and won North America's first trophy of the year in Reykjavik. Stage 2 brought about a second qualification to Masters for the team, however lost in the Copenhagen lower final against
FunPlus Phoenix
FunPlus Phoenix
Inactive
SUYGETSU
Dmitry Ilyushin
Zyppan
Pontus Eek
ANGE1
Kyrylo Karasov
Shao
Andrey Kiprsky
ardiis
Ardis Svarenieks
to finish in third. To cap off their year, OpTic came out swinging in Champions, yet finished second only to
LOUD
LOUD
Brazil
Unranked
dgzin
Douglas Silva
v1nny
Vínicius Gonçalves
pANcada
Bryan Luna
tuyz
Arthur Andrade
cauanzin
Cauan Pereira
in the grand finals in a 1-3 loss. After a dominant showing throughout the year, yay made the choice to ultimately switch jerseys and join Cloud9 heading into the 2023 season following the fallout of OpTic.
yay played just two tournaments with the Cloud9 core, both of which yielded varying results. While Cloud9 placed second at Red Bull Home Ground #3, LOCK//IN only saw the team take down one opponent — APAC's
Paper Rex
Paper Rex
Asia-Pacific
Unranked
mindfreak
Aaron Leonhart
Jinggg
Wang Jing Jie
f0rsakeN
Jason Susanto
d4v41
Khalish Rusyaidee
something
Ilya Petrov
— in their opening match before running out of steam against
DRX
DRX
Korea
Unranked
Flashback
Cho Min-hyuk (조민혁)
MaKo
Kim Myeong-gwan (김명관)
free1ng
No Ha-jun (노하준)
HYUNMIN
Song Hyun-min (송현민)
BeYN
Kang Ha-bin (강하빈)
to lose 1-2 in the quarterfinals.
With yay exiting the team, Cloud9 will need to find a new member to fill the gap left behind in the starting five of the roster.
Cloud9
Cloud9
North America
Unranked
Xeppaa
Erick Bach
v1c
Victor Truong
mitch
Mitch Semago
neT
Michael Bernet
OXY
Francis Hoang
are now down to: