VALORANT star Jaccob “yay” Whiteaker has started the search for a new home once again after an unsuccessful year in a new region forced him out of his starting berth on the Bleed eSports roster.
Bleed eSports announced its plans to restructure VALORANT roster with four of the five players that are on the starting roster already removed and restricted free agents in 2025.
Jaccob “yay” Whiteaker, alongside Deryeon, Retla, and Zest, are all now RFAs who must find a new team for 2025. It is not what fans may have expected when Yay was announced in 2023 as one of the newest members of Bleed.
The player who faced some financial drama in North America hasn’t had it smooth since then, and he has seen further difficulties on and off-stage.
The beginning of his time with Bleed Esports saw him go on a losing streak, which ended against DetonatioN FocusMe, with whom he won a series. However, beyond victory, the team failed to perform across 2024, winning just two series wins across the entire competitive year.
It was a disappointing stint for Yay, who also was accused of bribing his coach on DSG to bench former teammate Genghsta. Although these allegations were never completely confirmed, they provided another sizable dip for Yay’s roller coaster of a career thus far.
Ultimately, yay will remain on Bleed’s inactive roster until another team comes along willing to take a chance on him again. This should not be an issue, as Yay has displayed flashes of what he used to be capable of.
Elsewhere, another organisation, OG, has parted ways with its long-term coach Mikhail “Misha” Agatov, with plans for the future with the PGL Wallachia S2 Qualifiers approaching. OG failed to appear at the International 2024, and perhaps it may have informed their decision to announce the departure of Misha on Wednesday, August 14.
