Esports
Meet the all-female VALORANT team that are looking to dominate the Champions Tour next year.
When it comes to tactical shooter VALORANT, Cloud9 have gone all-in. Not only did they become one of the first organisations in the world to sign top players and start posting great results, but they also branched out and signed two more teams. The Cloud9 Korean team gives the organisation a global reach, but perhaps the more exciting team is Cloud9 White, an all-female team based in the United States.
The roster previously competed under the name MAJKL and were the top women's team in North America, winning the FTW Summer Showdown Ignition Series event. The result brought the roster a lot of attention and for a while they were the hottest free agents in the VALORANT scene, before eventually joining Cloud9 and, as they tell us, making their dreams come true.
"It feels really surreal to join such an established and well-known organisation as Cloud9," says Alexis 'alexis' Guarrasi, one of the stars of the Cloud9 White roster. "Being able to do something I love professionally is a dream come true. I know this is something we've all been working really hard for and we're so thankful for the opportunity and all of the support we receive from them.
"Truthfully, after we won the Ignition Series, we had many offers on the table from numerous different organisations and we were constantly in and out of meetings. Cloud9 was definitely our top choice from the beginning, though. We really appreciated how they didn't want to just advertise us as their female' team, but as their secondary squad. They had a woman in a position of power, [Senior General Manager] Gaylen Malone, reach out to us, which was another very positive sign on our end. All things considered, we were all thrilled that Cloud9 decided to sign us as their first all-female team."
We're not a team to be underestimated
The Cloud9 White roster features some remarkable talent and the team have been playing together longer than most of the big-name teams in the scene already. That should give them a big advantage over newer teams, as they've learnt the game together and will know exactly how they all play.
"We're not a team to be underestimated," says alexis. "We've been together since beta and have formed such close relationships with each other to the point where we're one big family. Viewers who are interested should watch us play in tournaments and see how methodical and meticulous we are on the server. We take our gameplay very seriously and we're looking to turn some heads in upcoming events."
As the team didn't make it to the First Strike finals in North America, missing out on the NSG qualifier event by just one game, they've been out of the limelight for a few months. Behind-the-scenes, however, preparations for their 2021 campaign are well underway. In the behind-closed-doors scrim scene in North America, they're playing against the top teams – male and female – and competing.
"While winning the Ignition series was a huge accomplishment for us, my personal best achievement so far is being able to scrim and compete against tier two and tier-one teams and consistently beat them," says alexis. "It's awesome to be so respected in a huge gaming scene as an all-female team. None of us are even close to plateauing in skill and we're incredibly passionate and motivated to become one of the best teams in the world."
For Cloud9 fans who didn't see the team in action during the Ignition Series, it might seem strange that the organisation signed another roster that competes in the same region as the first team it signed in VALORANT. But when top-level talent is available any good org will be looking to sign those players as soon as possible. There's no doubt that the Cloud9 White team has a lot of potential and already they're looking like a high-level squad with some lofty goals.
The ultimate goal is to be the best team in the world
"The ultimate goal is to be the best team in the world," says alexis. "Not just the best female team, because we've already accomplished that, but the best team ever. We have a while to go before we can achieve that, but our motivation is at an all-time high and none of us are going to stop grinding until we get there."
2021 looks set to be a big year for Cloud9 White. The team will be competing in the upcoming VALORANT Champions Tour, with the ultimate goal of becoming world champions next December. Watch this space.
