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Cloud9 signed jackk mid-season, then immediately threw him into the deep end: a must-win against LOUD on May 3 at VCT Americas Stage 1. The debut did not go as scripted. LOUD took the series 2-1, but the signing still changes the calculus for what comes next in a very crowded Group Alpha. 🃏
Cloud9 signed jackk on May 2, confirming what the Valorant community had been speculating. The American initiator replaces penny (Erik) in a roster change described by the org as part of an ongoing rebuild: the same kind of rebuild that took Cloud9 from contender to question mark earlier in the VCT Americas Stage 1 campaign.
jackk brings a clean skill set on Fade and Sova, the kind of consistent initiator play that head coach Immi has been trying to build around all season. He debuted in the FunHaver circuit in 2024, spent time with Berzerkers, then joined YFP for VCT Americas Stage 1 before this opportunity at Cloud9. 📈
The full C9 roster now reads: Xeppaa, OXY, v1c, Zellsis, jackk, coached by Immi (Ian Harding) with Veer (Wyatt Blevins) as assistant.
penny (Erik) joined Cloud9 during the offseason with an unusual backstory: he had been a stand-in at Team Liquid when nAts faced visa issues, was then signed by Apeks, and finally landed at C9 to reunite with Zellsis and OXY. The reunion did not produce results.
Cloud9 entered Stage 1 at 1-2, having lost to LEVIATÁN (0-2) and ENVY (1-2) before beating MIBR (2-0) in Week 3. What makes the timing jarring is that penny delivered 45 kills in that MIBR win, right before the mutual departure was announced.
The org is signaling it wants more defined roles. penny cycled through Sentinel, Controller, Duelist, and back: that flexibility was a feature, until it became a problem. jackk gives Immi something more fixed to build around, with Initiator being his clear home. 🏠
Source: Riot Games / VALORANT Esports
On his first official day as a Cloud9 player, jackk faced LOUD in a match with direct playoff implications for both teams. Zero warmup time, maximum stakes. The result: LOUD took the series 2-1.
The map breakdown: LOUD won Lotus 13-11, Cloud9 took Split 13-8, then LOUD closed it out on Breeze 13-11. Cloud9 showed they could compete map-by-map, but LOUD's experience in close games made the difference when it mattered most.
Cloud9 drop to 1-3 after the loss, making the playoff path significantly harder. LOUD climb to 2-2, staying in the conversation for a top-4 finish in Group Alpha.
Also on May 3: G2 Esports vs ENVY, another Group Alpha match with serious implications. G2 swept decisively 2-0 (Haven 13-9, Lotus 13-6), with trent putting up ACS 261 in the opener. G2 and ENVY finish the day at 2-2 and 1-3 respectively.
The top 4 from each group advance to the playoffs (May 14-25). With three weeks left, the middle of Group Alpha is a logjam: G2, LOUD, Cloud9, and ENVY are tightly packed. Keep an eye on Week 4's full results recap for context on how we got here.
At 1-3, Cloud9 need to run the table: three wins from their last three matches, with no margin for error. That means beating teams fighting for their own playoff spots. Unlikely? Yes. Impossible? Not quite.
The Zellsis, Xeppaa, OXY core has proven capable of top-tier play, and v1c has been the standout fragger the team needed. jackk slides in as the fifth who enables the others rather than demanding the spotlight. If Immi can find a working system fast, this new lineup could surprise. It would not be the first time a mid-season signing changed the trajectory of a VCT run, as the EMEA Stage 1 Week 4 bracket showed just weeks ago.
Meanwhile in China, XLG and EDG from China confirm their Masters London spots.
Want to track the standings and put your Valorant knowledge to work? Jump into ranked ladders on Amber.gg's Valorant platform while Cloud9 fight for their playoff lives. 🎮
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