Cloud9 announces new player and changes ahead of Challengers

Nicholas James Published 27/01/2021

In a video outlining Cloud9’s thoughts about the organization’s Valorant team moving forward, it was revealed that a new player was signing along with a new coach and general manager.

Update on the status of #C9BLUE and our plans going into the future from @RelyksOG, our new GM @C9Robin, & our new Head Coach @autumnkorea! pic.twitter.com/JbG3ahof7U
— Cloud9 (@Cloud9) January 26, 2021

Who is joining the Cloud9 Valorant roster?

The new addition to the Cloud9 Blue roster will be Son “xeta” Seon-ho. The former Cloud9 Korea player recently stood in for the team at the Nerd Street Gamers Winter Championship tournament from Korea. Even with over 200 ping, xeta performed well on Breach and impressed the organization enough to warrant a chance with the main team.

Also coming over from Cloud9 Korea will be that team’s former coach, Yoon “Autumn” Eu-ddeum. Autumn is joining xeta in the Korean exodus.

The final addition to the Cloud9 Valorant staff is general manager Robin Lee. Lee is the general manager for many of the organization’s shooter titles and was the main orchestrator behind both of the recent moves made by the team.

What led Cloud9’s Valorant team here?

In the video, Lee along with Cloud9 player Skyler “Relyks” Weaver explained that the team is now in a developmental phase. After the disappointing results from early Valorant tournament series, mainly the Ignition series and First Strike, the team came together and wanted to make a change, according to Relyks.

The organizations decided to cut its former in-game leader Josh “shinobi” Abastado and trail its other recent signing Nathan “leaf” Orf. From there, Lee explains that after he took up the mantle of manager for the team as Tyson “TenZ” Ngo told him about his desire to step away from the team and competition in order to focus on streaming.

That, according to Lee, was when the rebuilding of the roster truly started and led to the current team that Cloud9 has today.

Lastly, in the announcement video Autumn explained his intention to build a professional culture around the team and start from the ground up as a developmental squad. He also confirmed that Daniel “vice” Kim will be the team’s in-game leader moving forward.

Nicholas James

About Nicholas James

Nicholas James is a gaming writer with a passion for all things geekdom, as well as live theater. Nicholas is best known for covering League of Legends and other top MOBA titles, but his expertise covers numerous games across multiple genres. When not watching the LCS or playing the latest new release, Nicholas can be found doing some tabletop gaming and painting his favorite miniatures. Nicholas has also published with Hotspawn, TheGamer, Dexerto, Esports.gg and other industry outlets.

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