After a rather disappointing end to the year, Cloud9 kicked off a significant roster rebuild for its VALORANT division today by announcing the departure of four players and the team’s head coach, Matthew “mCe” Elmore.

The team is parting ways with veteran Jordan “Zellsis” Montemurro, in-game leader Dylan “runi” Cade, Mateja “qpert” Mijović, and rising superstar duelist Nathan “leaf” Orf. Decisions were made after the roster failed to break into any of the major international events of the past year, including Masters Tokyo and Champions 2023.

Leaf’s departure from the roster has been one of the more surprising developments of the offseason since the 19-year-old had a breakout year as the team’s duelist, despite the squad’s lack of success. Across the regular season, the young star had the second-highest average combat score, the third-highest average damage per round, and the highest clutch percentage in the Americas League, according to VLR.gg.

C9 actually started the past year as a relatively unknown quantity, especially after parting ways with superstar duelist Jaccob “yay” Whiteaker and Anthony “vanity” Malaspina. Not many fans knew what to expect from the legacy organization after it signed a former Soniqs in-game leader and a recent collegiate upstart, but in a few short weeks, the org became one of the best teams in the region.

By the end of the regular season, they were tied with LOUD for first place with an 8-1 record, poised to become the next big North American powerhouse. They eventually floundered out of the playoffs after dropping series against Evil Geniuses and NRG Esports, falling short of the new expectations that had been set on their shoulders. They weren’t even able to make Champions through the Last Chance Qualifier after suffering a surprising loss to Leviatán.

Recent reports have also suggested that C9 is looking to sign Anthony “vanity” Malaspina and Francis “OXY” Hoang, who would play alongside the two remaining members of the 2023 roster. Jake “jakee” Anderson and Erick “Xeppaa” Bach would have to adjust to a whole new set of teammates as they hunt for the success that evaded C9 toward the end of this past season.