In a letter to fans, Cloud9 White’s Melanie “meL” Capone spoke on her motivations, competing against the world’s best, and knowing what’s best for her future financially.
The Cloud9 White female VALORANT squad has been a force in North America as recently crowned Gamechangers Champions. In an event that saw c9w not drop a single map and end with a staggering round differential of +52, it's made evidently clear who runs the show. Cloud9 White continues the trend of dominance as the best female performing team in a dense region of talented players. Shortly after, c9w meL took to social media to explain her motivation and goals for the future.
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meL's unbending motivation
Based on the success of Cloud9 White, fans in the VALORANT fandom wondered if her aspirations go beyond Gamechangers.
The discussion turned to whether or not she'd be willing to make the jump to a Male centered team to compete in the VCT.
Furthermore, the debate focused on her financials as ill informed fans in the social media sphere prattled on endlessly about her career path. In a Twitlonger, she responded directly to the controversy and laid out her motivations, putting any doubt to rest.
"Regarding my individual motivation, I want to be the best," said meL in the post. "My goal is to win major championships and compete with the best players in the world, be it with Cloud9 or elsewhere in the future. If you don’t think I’m capable of doing that, I strongly welcome your criticism and doubt."
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What's next for c9w meL?
Above all else, meL is a competitor. She strives to become recognized as the best in the world. It doesn't matter if that's under the Cloud9 banner or another esports organization. Moreover, she emphasizes the fact that she is in the best position to make decisions for herself. The idea of the community dictating her choices being an appallingly bad move.
"What I DO care about, though, is making my goals and motivations perfectly clear: I’m not competing for the money, or the GC prize pool, or being the "best female player" or being on the "best female team"– and neither are my teammates for that matter.
I’m not a complacent person, I’m not satisfied, and I have very steep goals for myself. I appreciate everyone arguing passionately about what’s best for me financially, but I promise you all that I’m going to manage staying afloat and there is no one in a better position to understand my value and earning potential than me at the moment."
Cloud9 White meL's Dominance in the Gamechangers scene
Recently, C9W took their talents to the Champions Tour North America Stage 2: Challenger qualifiers. In a departure of Gamechangers, they tested their skills against the best Male teams in NA VALORANT. Their run ended at 2-2, falling to a top 20 North American team in GenG and the awkwardly named Girl Kissers.
This bracket run ended up spawning discussion around C9W specifically focusing around their star Sentinel player Mealine "meL" Capone. For many, meL is considered to be the best female player in the game.
Mel possesses ridiculous mechanical skill and greater positional awareness than almost any Sentinel, male or female. She came into her own on the Chamber during Gamechangers, putting up 300+ ACS in every match and finishing with an average kill-to-death ratio above 20.
The prospect or meL continuing to compete and improve against the best North America talent is an exciting premise. After a decent performance in week one, c9w enters the fray again in the round of 128 against TEN-5 on May 5th at 3pm PST.
