Cloud9 Blue has officially announced that Nathan “Leaf” Orf will be joining the Valorant roster to replace Tyson “TenZ” Ngo. Rumors of Leaf joining Cloud9 Blue first started over a month ago back in early December. One of Cloud9’s Valorant players Mitch “mitch” Semago accidentally pulled up the C9 Discord on stream which leaked the potential move. Leaf was listed under the “players” on the right side of the screen.
Leaf was originally rumored to be replacing team captain Josh “shinobi” Abastado who left Cloud9 shortly after the rumors. Shinobi has yet to be officially replaced on the team, and since then TenZ has also left the active roster to pursue streaming. Leaf is presumably replacing TenZ who was the young entry-fragger for the Valorant team.
The 17-year-old began his career in CS:GO in early 2018 before eventually retiring in 2021. He spent most of his time on Chaos Esports Club’s main roster. There he helped Chaos dominate the A, B, and C tier online tournaments. Since he joined in June of 2020, he helped Chaos collect over $170,000 in prize earnings. 100 Thieves’ Josh “Steel” Nissan also came from Chaos Esports Club and has since been cemented as one of the best players in Valorant.
Cloud9 continue to struggle
Cloud9 was a consistent top-tier team at the start of Valorant esports back in May of 2020. Unfortunately, that success was short-lived as Cloud9 soon became a bottom/mid-tier professional team. The last time Cloud9 placed 1st overall was at the Nerd Street Gamers Qualifier for First Strike where they defeated Envy. However, despite the 1st place finish, Cloud9 failed to make it to the final event in December.
The winds of change are blowing…
Please welcome @leaf_cs to #C9BLUE! pic.twitter.com/tRadsn3cSk
— Cloud9 (@Cloud9) January 21, 2021
Leaf has been playing with the Cloud9 Blue team since the JBL Quantum Cup in early December. He has competed in a total of three tournaments with them but has yet to make improvements to the team. They are still struggling to make headlines like they were in the early days of Valorant esports. At the Nerd Street Gamers: Winter Championship, they lost to Andbox and placed 5th/8th.
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