Cloud9 signs all-woman Valorant team, its third Valorant roster

Cloud9 has just signed an all-female Valorant team. 

While the organization already has two existing Valorant roster, Cloud9 has picked up MAJKL, an all-female Valorant team that won Spectator Gaming’s all-woman Valorant tournament. The team will now compete under the name Cloud9 White. Their other Valorant team will be rebranded to “Cloud9 Blue.” 

While all-female rosters are nothing new in esports, Cloud9’s senior general manager Gaylen Malone stated that Cloud9 White will be competing in mainstream Valorant tournaments alongside all-male teams. This is a big step for women in esports, with Counter Logic Gaming’s Stephanie “missharvey” Harvey stating in a WIN.gg interview that all-female tournaments were “band-aids” and the goal was to “mix everyone.” 

Alongside both Cloud9 Blue and Cloud9 White, Cloud9 also sponsors a Korean roster named Cloud9 Korea. All three Cloud9 rosters will aim to qualify for First Strike, Valorant’s first official championship.

Cloud9 exec discusses plans for women’s Valorant roster

Malone explained that Cloud9 was inspired by the early League of Legends scene in Korea. In 2010, Korean organizations commonly signed 10 players divided into two rosters. The two teams would practice against each other, sometimes even exchanging players back and forth. 

“I don’t expect us to exchange players week-by-week, but I do expect for the coaches and players of Cloud9 Blue to eventually look to integrate some of the women from Cloud9 White into their roster,” Malone said.