The Cloud9 VALORANT roster still has a long way to go if they want to silence all the doubters, but they kicked off their VCT Americas season in the best way, propelled by some highlight-worthy playmaking from one of their rookie additions.
Both Dylan “runi” Cade Jake “jakee” Anderson entered the match versus Evil Geniuses as relative unknowns; players with at most some tier two experience, but facing an experience unlike anything they’d ever faced before. But while both players held their own in their debut victory, it was runi who shined brightest with a couple of can’t-miss highlights.
First, he generated some much-needed momentum for Cloud9 on Pearl, in a 1v2 post-plant despite facing two ultimates. With the spike planted on B, runi is forced to retreat to B long due to a Killjoy Lockdown and an Astra Cosmic Divide. But after the Lockdown ends, despite no abilities and no armor, he swings through the Cosmic Divide and catches BcJ and Boostio off guard. This round proved to be a difference maker in the final score, as C9 launched an impressive comeback in the second half to steal EG’s map pick 13-11.
But even that great play paled in comparison to his jaw-dropping clutch on Fracture that effectively put the dagger in Evil Geniuses. On a save round, Runi hits two unbelievable Sheriff kills through smokes, including a collateral. When EG rotates all the way to B, runi is waiting for them and meets them with two crisp Sheriff headshots to secure the thrifty. The play electrified the C9 players on stage and drew “runi” chants from the audience.
Both of runi’s spectacular plays were among the most-watched highlights from VCT Americas week one. On Twitter, each clip has over 87K views, on the higher end of highlights posted there from this first weekend. The Sheriff 4K, via Tarik’s co-stream, is also the most viewed highlight play amongst VALORANT clips on Twitch from April 2.
Prior to the start of VCT Americas, coach Matthew “mCe” Elmore said he wasn’t really that worried about who C9 would bring in, noting that when the trio of Xeppaa, leaf, and Zellsis perform, “it doesn’t matter who is in our fourth and fifth slot.” Still, the coach who made his name on elevating young, unproven talent when he was with The Guard has to be happy with the early results from both runi and jakee.
