The offseason between the 2023 and 2024 VCT seasons has officially started with transfer windows opening across all the major VALORANT regions. Heading into the 2024 season, there are signs that Cloud9 will not be retaining the services of superstar duelist Nathan “leaf” Orf.
Many fans use the Global Contract Database to determine what changes teams make during the offseason, and the most recent version of the GCD does not list both leaf and Jordan “Zellsis” Montemurro. While Zellsis has publicly commented regarding his now unrestricted free agent status, leaf has kept quiet.
While a delisting from the GCD only technically means that a contract has expired, which could potentially be resolved by a player re-signing with their org such as Tyson “TenZ” Ngo did with Sentinels, other reports indicate that C9 is moving in a new direction. A report from earlier this week claims former IGL Anthony “vanity” Malaspina is returning and that C9 secured a deal with former G2 duelist Francis “OXY” Hoang.
Both OXY and leaf primarily play duelist. But while OXY exclusively played only Jett and Raze during his time with G2, leaf also fits Neon into his agent pool and has very rarely played official games with Skye and Killjoy. Given how similar their agent pools are, if the reports of OXY heading to C9 are true, it means that leaf is likely on his way out unless he and C9 are cooking up a major role change for one of the league’s top duelists.
There has been some buzz about leaf linking up with the former members of The Guard, who are without a primary duelist since parting ways with Ian “tex” Botsch. Coincidentally, it’s the organization that formerly employed OXY in G2 who is reportedly in strong contention to pick up The Guard’s former players and fill the two-year spot in VCT Americas.
Published: Sep 13, 2023 03:37 pm