Cover-Credits:
One of the biggest names in the world of Valorant esports has moved all the way to Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) Pacific League in 2024, leaving behind North America (NA). Ever since the VCT Pacific transfer window opened on 11th September, organizations have been announcing their new rosters.
On 29th September, Bleed Esports announced the signing of Valorant star Jaccob "yay" Whiteaker for the 2024 VCT season.
However, this new was not a major surprise to Valorant esports fans since there were multiple reports and rumors over the last few months about yay's move from the Americas region to the east.
Yay Reveals Reasons Behind Move to VCT Pacific
Yay reportedly talked about some of the reasons why he decided to leave behind the North American region and move to Asia Pacific (APAC). He reportedly said, "I wanted a new challenge. Watching the APAC and China games, their unique VALORANT style intrigued me. I wanted to experience it to develop my game. With all the financial drama in NA, moving to Singapore seemed right."
Yay also reportedly noted that his experience with Bleed Esports has been a positive change compared to his previous teams. According to reports, he said, “The environment here is more wholesome, which is really cool. It sometimes got a bit toxic with some of my past teams, maybe too serious, with lots of drama. But here at Bleed, everyone is super friendly, really, really nice people."
Bleed Esports Rounds Out Its Roster With Yay's Signing
Singaporean organization Bleed Esports announced its full roster on 30th September. The 25-year-old North American star will play alongside four Southeast Asian Valorant pros. The roster is as follows:
Derrick "Deryeon" Yee
Javier "Egoist" Chua
Ngô "crazyguy" Anh
Nutchaphon "sScary" Matarat
Jaccob "yay" Whiteaker
Nikola "LEGIJA" Ninić (Head coach)
Sushant "Ominous" Jha (Analyst)
Yay last played in the Valorant Challegers League (VCL) North America for Jeremy "Disguised Toast” Wang’s Valorant team Disguised. The team placed last with a 0-7 record and was relegated out of the league eventually.
Before that, 'El Diablo' played for prominent teams in North America including OpTic Gaming and Cloud9. With OpTic Gaming, yay placed top three at every international VCT event and won the coveted VCT Masters Reykjavík trophy in 2022.
Notably, Bleed Esports defeated SCARZ in the Grand Final of VCT 2023 Pacific Ascension and became the first team to make it into the Tier 1 scene through the Challengers and Ascension system that was introduced by Riot Games in 2023.
