Two players are switching from the Cloud9 CS:GO roster to Cloud9 Valorant Blue. The rise of Valorant in NA compared to CS:GO, a likely contributing factor.
Former Cloud9 CSGO players floppy and Xeppa make the transition away from CSGO to join Cloud9 Valorant Blue.
Floppy and xeppa are stepping away from CS:GO to pursue a career in Valorant, first reported by RushBMedia. The two CS:GO players join a budding esports scene in Valorant as they look to continue donning the blue and white.
Floppy Continues Tenure with Cloud9
Floppy is now one of the more tenured players on Cloud9, joining in January 2020. The North American player originally joined Cloud9 CS:GO through the acquisition of the ATK roster. Once the team joined Cloud9, expectations were set on them being a mid-tier CS:GO team with potential. Unfortunately, once the Coronavirus pandemic hit, the team’s results faltered. It is from here, where Cloud9 drops the former ATK squad, but retains the rights to floppy. As the only remaining member from the previous team, he played alongside the Cloud9 CS:GO superteam.
Initially built by HenryG, the Cloud9 CS:GO Superteam is one that did not pan out well. While a good looking roster on paper, ping related issues hampered the teams progress. This lead to the team needing to replace woxic’s spot with Xeppaa.
Xeppaa Short Career with Cloud9 CS:GO Now A Valorant Pro
For Xeppaa, the move to Valorant is shocking due to how short his Cloud9 CS:GO career is. Initially starting to breakout as the star of Chaos Esports Club, he was picked up in early January. Unfortunately, this tenure is going to be cut short in CS:GO as the team could never find the footing they need.
All of this culminated into a poor outing at ESL Pro League Season 13, marking it as the final tournament for the Cloud9 CS:GO superteam. Now as the remaining CS:GO players on Cloud9 disperse, the organization's future in CS:GO looks confusing.
More CS:GO Players Switch to Valorant
The list of CS:GO players switching to Valorant continues to grow at very scary rates for competitive CS:GO. Many of the games top players are beginning to opt for the Riot Games FPS in hopes that it will develop over time. While a new game, Valorant is becoming a haven for CS:GO players to reshape their careers. CS:GO players like Hiko and TenZ are developing into household names in Valorant as their former game continues to flail in the region.
TenZ is now apart of the Sentinels, but rose to prominence as a top Valorant player. Photo via Cloud9.
While the North American CS:GO scene is crumbling during the Coronavirus pandemic, Valorant continues to grow. Due to it’s budding esports scene, the pros of switching over to Valorant become enticing for talents like floppy and Xeppaa. Luckily for them, the transition to a new game will be made easier by staying with Cloud9.
The new iteration of Cloud9 Valorant will debut at VCT Stage 2: Challengers 2 in a game against T1 on April 22.
What do you think of the new Cloud9 Valorant roster? Are floppy and Xeppaa good replacements for TenZ and Relyks? Let us know! For more news on Cloud9 and the Valorant scene, check out our Valorant column. Make sure to stay updated with esports.gg.