The winds of change are blowing for Cloud9's Valorant team.
Cloud9 Blue is welcoming Nathan "leaf" Orf to their Valorant roster. The skilled FPS player was a stand-in on the team for three different tournaments, but now he's officially part of the main squad.
"I'd probably like to be one of the top players in the game. I definitely think I have the capabilities to be so," leaf said in an announcement video posted on Twitter.
leaf was formally a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive pro, but seemed to adapt to Valorant seamlessly. He has been playing Omen, Cyper, Killjoy, and Reyna, clearly able to master the addition of these abilities despite CSGO's more straightforward approach to tactical shooting action. leaf has been a very flexible player that brings a lot of fragging power to the roster.
Cloud9's Skyler "Relyks" Weaver stated that leaf understands "what it takes to win in an FPS game" due to his ability to communicate, bring up suggestions, and making aggressive plays.
Fans were nervous about Tyson "TenZ" Ngo leaving the roster to pursue content creation. TenZ was the clear star of the team, and the squad sometimes seemed to rely on his fragginb ability. But Relyks and the rest of the org is confident that each remaining player is skilled individually. This now includes leaf.
It's unclear if Son "xeta" Seon-ho will be officially signed to the roster. He was also on trial while leaf was standing in during tournaments. The team lost in-game leader Josh "shinobi" Abastado at the end of 2020 after a subpar showing at First Strike, so there are definitely spots that need to be filled before the Valorant Champions Tour Open Qualifier. That event begins January 27.
What is Cloud9 Blue?
In October 2020, Cloud9 signed an all-female Valorant roster. The team was called Cloud9 White. Cloud9 Blue is the organization's other Valorant roster, which is where leaf was recently signed. The two teams will compete in the same tournaments when able.
