One of the most recognizable names in VALORANT and one of the biggest free agents available is reportedly close to joining forces with a team that punched their ticket to VCT via Ascension. But the NA superstar won’t be staying in the Americas and linking up with G2.
According to VALORANT reporter and spreadsheet caretaker Flynn, Jaccob “yay” Whiteaker is “close to signing” with Bleed Esports and competing in VCT Pacific for the next season. After starting the 2023 season on Cloud9 before ending the season with Disguised Toast on a brutal loss streak, the gem of the pre-partnership offseason is reportedly headed to the other side of the world.
Community members have been speculating about yay going to Bleed and VCT Pacific for a few days now. Fans are convinced he’s been duoing with Bleed starter Derrick “Deryeon” Yee under the name “zommy” because of a similar crosshair and crosshair placement. While “zommy” kept quiet during many of the matches streamed by RRQ player Saibani “fl1pzjder” Rahmad, when the player did speak, they had a similar voice to yay.
As noted by Dexerto, several fans have pointed out that yay’s account on tracker.gg has gone inactive, which could indicate he’s playing on a new one in a different region.
While yay moving all the way to the VCT Pacific league would surprise anyone if you told them at the beginning of the 2023 season, it’s not so unreasonable now. At the beginning of August, right before the offseason kicked off, esports reporter and insider Rod “Slasher” Breslau said yay was willing to do whatever it took to get back to tier one, even if it meant switching roles or moving regions.
Yay admitted at the end of his run with Disguised that he was depressed about the way his 2023 campaign ended and said he would donate his last paycheck to charity since he “didn’t deserve it.” While he was once considered the biggest prize of free agency prior to the 2023 season, yay is seemingly headed toward getting a second chance to leave an impact on the VCT.
