yay’s time with Envy/OpTic helped him carve out his stake as one of the greatest players in VALORANT history.
SINGAPORE – Bleed Esports have announced the signing of former OpTic and Cloud9 star Jaccob “yay” Whiteaker. The high-profile signing of yay comes as little to no surprise after reports came out over the past few months about the long-rumored move of the 25-year-old from the Americas to the Pacific region
The addition of a world-class duelist to the Singapore-based team should come as a huge boost to the team especially after the team found themselves a player short in that role following the exit of Tyler “juicy” Aeria, who left to fulfill his National Service commitments. Expectations and attention will undoubtedly center on yay in the upcoming season of the VCT Pacific League next year.
“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 said in a press release.
yay needs no introduction as one of the best players worldwide, renowned for his time playing for North American powerhouses Envy and OpTic Gaming during the 2021 and 2022 seasons, respectively. His addition from Andbox in August was key in Envy/OpTic’s evolution into a title contender, from a runners-up position at Masters Berlin 2021 to ultimately becoming the number-one team in the world after winning Masters Reykjavík in 2022.
yay closed his OpTic Gaming chapter with a tournament-high 1.26 rating at VALORANT Champions Istanbul, where the team secured the runners-up position, falling behind eventual world champions LOUD. His stock was further raised when ‘El Diablo’ was awarded the Best 2022 Esports Athlete by The Game Awards.
yay will be hoping that a new challenge with Bleed Esports in a different region will reignite his career after enduring a frustrating period with Cloud9, where he was released from the team after only playing at VCT LOCK//IN early this year and missed the boat on the remainder of the tier-one calendar. Later, he briefly teamed up with Disguised in the NA Challengers circuit from April to June, ending his season with a bottom finish in Split 2 and the Relegation event.
With yay’s signing, Bleed Esports now have:
- 🇸🇬 Derrick “Deryeon” Yee
- 🇸🇬 Javier “Egoist” Chua
- 🇻🇳 Ngô “crazyguy” Anh
- 🇹🇭 Nutchaphon “sScary” Matarat
- 🇺🇸 Jaccob “yay” Whiteaker
- 🇩🇪 Nikola “LEGIJA” Ninić (Head coach)
- 🇸🇬 Sushant “Ominous” Jha (Analyst)
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Cover photo courtesy of Sebastian Stigsby/Riot Games
