After a disappointing end to their 2023 season and a busy offseason, Cloud9 is geared up and ready for next year with a revamped VALORANT roster.
The team is bringing back a few familiar faces, as revealed in the full team announcement today, while also introducing some newcomers to the lineup as they prepare for another run at the VCT Americas championship and beyond.
The popular organization has signed Francis “OXY” Hoang, Maxim “wippie” Shepelev, and veteran in-game leader Anthony “vanity” Malaspina, who will be returning to the team after parting ways at the end of the 2023 LOCK//IN tournament. They have also signed on Ian “Immi” Harding as head coach, rounding out the division for the new year.
Wippie and OXY both played for G2 Esports over the course of 2023, with Immi as their coach from the sidelines. Although the organization failed to qualify for Ascension, both players showed plenty of promise during their stint with the team. OXY is one of the youngest and brightest prospects available in North America, while wippie has plenty of experience to bring from his career as both a VALORANT and CSGO pro.
C9, on the other hand, had an up and down season, starting with LOCK//IN 2023. The team failed to break into the upper echelon of the tournament after a 2-0 loss to DRX, and decided to wipe the slate clean by dropping yay and vanity ahead of the regular season. With a revamped roster, C9 stormed their way to a fourth-place finish, and even had some fans considering them to be one of the best teams in Americas.
But after dropping out of playoffs and failing to make Champions, the organization has made yet another massive set of changes in an attempt to find a combination that works. Fans won’t have to wait too long to catch this new roster in action, with the team jumping into some OFF//SEASON action at the TEN VALORANT Global Invitational from Oct. 7 to 8.
