Xeppaa and floppy Transition to Valorant

Erick “Xeppaa” Bach and Ricky “floppy” Kemery have announced they’re making the move from Counter-Strike: Global Offensive to Valorant. Former Cloud9 teammates will remain with the North American esports organization as they continue their career in Riot Games’ FPS title.

Floppy Steps Down From CS:GO

Floppy has announced he is stepping away from the competitive CS:GO scene on Monday, April 19. The 21-year-old announced his retirement after seven years in the scene.

Floppy has begun his CS:GO career in 2014, when he started competing in ESEA MDL. The North American esports pro has attended 10 ESEA MDL seasons before making his debut in the top leagues.

Floppy’s breakthrough came in September 2019, when he got picked up by ATK from Team Singularity. His stint with the South African esports organization, however, was short-lived.

In three months he has spent with ATK, floppy has won WESG 2019 North America: United States, and reached the finals of ESL Pro League Season 10. There he helped ATK beat two heavyweights in North and G2 Esports but flopped against mousesports in the semi-finals.

ATK’s strong showing at the ESL Pro League has earned their roster contracts with Cloud9, who signed the entire roster in January 2020. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 outbreak made it difficult for C9 to reach their full potential.

Months of uninspiring results eventually led Cloud9 to pull the plug on their CS:GO division in March. After announcing their exit from the scene, C9 transfer-listed their entire roster and parted ways with their coaching staff.

Xeppaa joins floppy on his new journey

As a member of Cloud9’s CS:GO roster, Xeppaa has suffered the same fate as floppy. Once a promising prospect, Xeppaa has found himself transfer-listed and eventually decided to transition to a new esports title.
Xeppaa rose to prominence in 2020 as a key member of Chaos Esports Club, where he averaged a 1.17 rating. While at Chaos, Xeppaa won titles at the North American divisions of IEM Beijing-Haidian and DreamHack Masters Winter.

As one of the most talented players in the scene, Xeppaa got picked up by Cloud9 at the beginning of 2021. He joined “the Colossus” as a replacement for Özgür “⁠woxic⁠” Eker on a three-year deal.

Unfortunately, Xeppaa would go on to play only five events with C9, failing to win a single one. Xeppaa’s best tournament run with C9 came in January; he finished fifth-eighth at cs_summit 7.

Cloud9 Blue add two new members

Although floppy’s and Xeppaa’s left the CS:GO scene, the two weren’t ready to give up on their esports careers yet. As revealed on Monday, April 19, both transitioned to Valorant, where they’ll represent Cloud9 Blue.

Floppy and Xeppaa join the C9 Valorant roster as replacements for Daniel “vice” Kim and Skyler “Relyks” Weaver. The two will team up with Mitch “mitch” Semago, Son “xeta” Seon-ho, Michael “poiz” Possis, and Xeppaa’s former teammate at Chaos Nathan “leaf” Orf.

Xeppaa and floppy will make their debut with Cloud9 Blue on Thursday, April 22. Their first official match in Valorant will take place in the first round of VALORANT Champions Tour 2021: North America Stage 2 Challengers 2.

The VALORANT Champions Tour 2021: North America Stage 2

Challengers 2 will feature eight teams, who will compete for the largest slice of the $50,000 prize pool and a ticket for the Challengers Finals. Joining C9 Blue at the tournament are T1, Immortals, Andbox, Built by Gamers, Sentinels, NRG, and TSM.

The tournament will feature a double-elimination bracket, where all fixtures – except for grand finals – are played as best-of-three. The top four teams will advance to the Challengers Finals.

There, they will join 100 Thieves, XSET, Team Envy, and Version 1 in a $100,000 tournament. The top two teams from the Challengers Finals receive a direct bye to the Stage 2 Masters – Reykjavík.

At the time of writing, the esports bookmakers have yet to release betting odds for T1 vs. Cloud9 Blue fixture. Regardless, we can be sure we’re in for an exciting bout that should favor Cloud9 Blue.

The North American side have yet to lose against T1 in their last three meetings. C9 Blue won those with 2-0, 2-1, and 3-0.