Three Cloud9 Valorant Players to Reportedly Compete in ESEA CS:GO Tournament
The trio is coming back to its roots in their time away from competitive Valorant.
Three retired CS:GO players who are among some of the best Valorant pros from North America, Nathan "leaf" Orf, Erick "Xeppaa" Bach, and Anthony "vanity" Malaspina, are reportedly all set to compete in the upcoming CS:GO tournament - ESEA Cash Cup: North America - Spring 2022 #2.
The Cloud9 core has been popping off lately after a grim start to the season last year, but despite their best efforts the team fell just short of qualifying for the VCT 2022: Stage 1 Masters - Reykjavík which is scheduled to take place from 10th to 24th April.
According to a report by Dust2.us, the players are competing in the CS:GO event with a temporary roster as they have some free time on their hands. While most players choose to catch a break and relax when away from the competitive circuit, the North American trio has decided to return back to their roots.
Report: Cloud9 Valorant players leaf, Xeppaa, vanity to compete in a CS:GO tournament
The trio of two entry fraggers (leaf, Xeppaa) and an AWPer (vanity) was previously part of the Chaos Esports Club during their time competing in CS:GO two years ago in 2020.
Chaos had taken the North American and even the international scene by storm, with heavy cheating accusations being made against the team in its early days of playing professionally. They quickly rose to prominence and cemented their position as one of the finest teams from the region, peaking at the 17th place in HLTV's global CS:GO rankings at the time.
However, due to poor management and the organization running out of funds, Chaos had to take a step back from competing in CS:GO with its players switching to other teams and titles like Valorant.
As fate would have it, Cloud9 was undergoing a massive overhaul of its Valorant roster and the trio once again started playing together, this time competing in Valorant instead of CS:GO.
Helping Cloud9 move out of its slump, the team managed to secure a 3rd place finish at the VCT 2022: North America Stage 1 Challengers, but this was not enough to guarantee them a spot for Reykjavík Masters.
With the event set to take place over the course of the next two weeks, teams that failed to qualify have a bit of a time on their hands. Xeppaa, leaf, and vanity have reportedly decided to utilize this time to compete at the upcoming CS:GO tournament ESEA Cash Cup: North America - Spring 2022 #2.
As per reports they will be competing with the following lineup,
Anthony "vanity" Malaspina
Adam "mada" Pampuch
Rahul "curry" Nemani
Erick "Xeppaa" Bach
Nathan "leaf" Orf