How a Burnt Out CS:GO Hotshot Became Valorant's Most Feared Duelist

No matter what game you play, just about every top team you’ll face has that one standout player. Someone who is capable of putting the team on their back and getting the job done in just about any situation.
Some of these stars are flashy highlight machines, capable of pulling off plays that most of us could only dream of, while others pride themselves on consistency, letting their accolades speak for them.
Going up against players with huge reputations like this can be nerve-wracking because there's always a strong possibility that they’ll produce something spectacular.
But in the brief history of Valorant esports, no single player has struck fear into the hearts of their opposition quite like Jaccob “yay” Whiteaker. The gasp-inducing aim god of Team Envy, whose reputation for collecting souls has earned him the nickname: El Diablo.
Written by: Niall McCrossan (@niallmccrossan)
Produced & Hosted by: Dimitri Pascaluta (@DPascaluta)
Edited by: Sam Gore (@famgore)
Produced by: Miles Hackett (@miles_hackett)
Production assistance by: Matt Massey & Jason Lo (@jasonlobster)
Thumbnail by: William 'Magoo' O'Keefe
Special thanks to "yay" for the interview, you can find him @ / yayster !
Footage Credits:
pastebin.com/1LjnBdP1
Music used under license from Associated Production Music LLC (”APM”).
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[@yandrewww]

I like how mans got the most menacing nickname and then he's just a friendly teddy bear

[@alextren_]

I was boutta say the same

[@cryogelatin1952]

Teddy bear that can one tap you with a classic pistol in valorsnt

[@srinathstevie9424]

And his actual ign is "yay"

[@trevoreagar4092]

"El Diablo" Oh my, thats intimidating. *Picture of El Diablo* Oh my, I feel like he would hug me if I said I was sad

[@jakeweeramanthri6309]

@@cryogelatin1952 a classic pistol can only deal 78 to a player's head therefore meaning, that at least 2 bullets are required to take out a non-amoured player

[@dragonsthatfly4508]

This video is so much better after Yay and Optic's VCT win.

[@owner_of_youtube823]

I came here just to say that . this aged well !!

[@saahilshaikhrocks]

Me as well

[@jonas89650]

Just here bc of this win

[@thepoopmonster1041]

Cringe and fluke win

[@leechanyeong409]

​@@thepoopmonster1041well still better than you

[@joaquinaviega8707]

This guy has the best nickname ever

[@kellenrust4148]

Honestly the best thing about it is how nice and unassuming he is lol.

[@keonkla]

@@kellenrust4148 True lol You would think he would be just your average big ego and nothing else pro. Kinda refreshing to see him different from others tbh.

[@mocha5334]

And he has the world record for saying “like” the most times in a KZbin video lol

[@MG0301]

The simplest name ever created and very remembered

[@EpilepticLobster]

@@kellenrust4148 yeah it'd be just cringe if he had a huge ego and screamed el diablo every time he gets an ace. But the fact that's he seems like such a nice and quiet guy makes it great

[@shubham_marathe]

Man I had watched Yay's interview after Complexity had a good run at some CSGO major, with Stan, Android, Deph & Shazam. He said " I've made it" or something to all the doubters he had. I was sad to see him disappear from CS:GO. I'm so freaking glad he's doing amazing in Valorant.

[@larry2281]

Only issue I have with yay is before they officially switched to Valorant. The game came out during a tournament that they were currently playing in called Flashpoint, it was a 1 million prize pool tourney. Was a LAN event and basically Faceit paid for his team to be there and mid tournament they all focused their attention away from CS to focus and grind Valorant. Obviously looking at it now, it paid off. But it really goes to show you the mindsets that NA had, they quit mid tourney to focus on something else and wonder why they aren't getting signed. idk just my opinion.

[@khasheeeeeeeessshhhchoooww5991]

by etc u mean shahzam? cause like, he's the only dude left lol. funny how u only need to mention one more guy and wrote etc...

[@juanencabo3084]

@@larry2281 yeah

[@shubham_marathe]

@@khasheeeeeeeessshhhchoooww5991 I didn't leave him out, I just couldn't remember the 5th guy on his team lol

[@hyota9712]

@@larry2281 i mean idk i gues its the na mindset it depends on the situation that you are in which can greatly affect your priorities

[@louielao3727]

Tarik screaming "diablo!" on every kill gets me everytime. 🤣

[@ManjotSingh-yc1te]

Tarik is so scared of him that i watched in on rank game he said we r going to lose bcs diablo is in opposite team and in their team they has tsm rossi, c9 xeppa , timmy and all said we r going to lose against diablo we cant win. That is the amount of fear he has on tarik and other ranked players..

[@daniyalmujtaba]

@@ManjotSingh-yc1te and i think they actually were owned by him so they were right. i remember them yelling that we kill diablo we win in start of every round

[@ADITYAYTTTTT]

@@ManjotSingh-yc1te You know Tarik trolls right? He isn't scared, they all are tier 1 players , no one is scared of anyone

[@ManjotSingh-yc1te]

@@ADITYAYTTTTT nah he is actually scared bcs in ranked games yay gets 2ms ping......so he owns tarik everytime.....though both are very good friends and have played csgo together but still tarik agrees that when yay is opposite we kind of going to lose..... 😂😂👍👍

[@ADITYAYTTTTT]

@@ManjotSingh-yc1te He trolls, he does the same for tenz, he just trolls. No one is scared of anyone

[@thebluecollarkid1521]

All harmless looking people are monsters behind the device! It applies almost everywhere!

[@baguette_tt9601]

Fr

[@muhammadyusoffjamaluddin]

No joke when he use control… Keyboard and Mouse my man he is. 😂🤣

[@isoponic]

@Azazel 💀

[@eagle7015]

@Azazel shit

[@sergrojGrayFace]

E.g. dentists.

[@CashMMTTrevor]

I played yay in a csgo faceit pug once and I had never been so bodied in my life. We went to an OT loss of 16-19 and he dropped 62 kills

[@addzee9865]

wtf

[@Destinyop]

HOLY SHIT

[@momosart4]

gg

[@MtLucasno]

hes alright. i played with tarik and all old c9. they just know timings and more patience in the game

[@igorz4582]

@@MtLucasno you're 2 cringe

[@1Hand1]

I used to be pretty good friends with Jaccob and I have no bad things to say about the guy. Super wholesome. Super driven. Super good at the game. Can't wait to see him hold the trophy.

[@TheShadowsnivy]

Sure bro

[@frostyading2218]

cap bro

[@1Hand1]

@@frostyading2218we dont really talk anymore but I met him when he played CSGO for Lazarus. Still talk to a few mutual friends every once in a while who were a lot closer to him

[@indra3678]

@@1Hand1 sure bro

[@chrisbotch3528]

@@indra3678 lmao is it that rare to be friends with yay? u prob have 0

[@cerjmedia]

playing against people like yay probably makes you really feel like "honestly, utility doesn't really matter at this point anymore"

[@kansasrockers1157]

oh how have this comment held up when chamber was added the util became him

[@xeno2358]

This dude is the reason that the term "Ranked demons" exists.

[@ebarbs4049]

ranked demons normally implies the fact that theyre ass in pro or that they arent pros, but cracked in rank

[@xeno2358]

Fuck. Did not know that.

[@n4gauge]

@@ebarbs4049 some of them just choose to not be a pro

[@larry2281]

Ranked demon is just another word for pug star lol.

[@iamclydieCS]

@@larry2281 yeh

[@Nabegh]

Yay said the word "like" more than the amount of heads he has tapped in this video

[@mocha5334]

THANK YOU IT IS REDICULOUS

[@SaintNyx]

That was driving me nuts. Good lord.

[@Link-pr9id]

I just love how Yays nickname is Diablo but in reality he’s just so chill

[@manavadityasingh4303]

Here after El Diablo is having the tournament of a lifetime in VCT Champions. highest KDA, Highest Opening duels won, 50-14 on Opening duels,Most Multi kills in the tourney. I mean Damn

[@jordannainoca230]

This is the kind of channel that makes you smile when you see the notification of a new video.

[@RCmetal11]

God I remember watching Envy vs. 100t, and Yay just 1v5'd 100t all of Haven. Was a insane map lol.

[@kevinnosaurus793]

Subroza hitting a prayer when he met him in ranked Match's is the moment I got introduce to him.

[@thomasjordan4668]

Yay seems like such a genuine down to earth person.

[@360gamingwizard2]

He just looks like a really chill, fun guy

[@lukzy3781]

I have been waiting for this video for so long

[@jimnguyen.]

Imagine being so good your team kicks you out for cheating

[@theMAN-jr2zr]

Tenz and yay are a walking,breathing montage machine

[@olive8783]

Could we get a story of nivera? I feel like it would be interesting to see the transition from cs to valorant

[@BobSmith-ic8bu]

I mean liquid created one on their channel

[@sunset_anime]

If Liquid makes it to grand finals yeah, if not i dont see why

[@hamidiqbal266]

@@sunset_anime mate I don't wanna jinx their run after adding nivera but in that red bull homegrounds tourney they just stomped every team including top dawgs like acend who had beaten gambit(current world champs) and liquid also beat G2....with nivera pulling out amazing performance with so many 3/4ks....I hope their run continues 💪

[@Infqtion]

@@hamidiqbal266 yea, they will make it to playoffs almost 100%, if the NA representatives dont turn into demons out of nowhere they should be good, oh and VS might've improved a lot but you never know... Idk Im cheering for NA and Liquid are my favs from EU but if gambit also makes it instead of one of the NA teams ill take it

[@Infqtion]

If they get an eu team in quarters it will be very likely for them to get to semi judging by their recent performence on EU

[@bruhh489]

Yay is the type of player that makes you pray if u get him on the other team

[@Xcey616]

Nah I would pray to have him on the enemies team to challenge him..

[@jed1477]

Finally a well deserved feature for El diablo. Was waiting for this since Masters 3.

[@yayfanboy7458]

Who won masters 1 and 2 in 2021 ?

[@TheAfonsosa]

Their VCT win makes this story so cool

[@bryle8829]

Andbox is so good at finding cracked aimers. Yay before and now Aleksandar

[@blyue6941]

His name and nickname is like the ying and yang it goes both ways, yay being positive and excitement and el diablo being a demon

[@uplynxx7322]

Yay is the perfect mix of game iq and aim, he just plays things out so well

[@leos0257]

Nah the enemies dont even know what prefire means and are just holding bad spots that are easy to shoot to with some awp or whatever it is in valorant and when the enemy peaks they dont even seem to react

[@Xcey616]

@@leos0257 what an unprofessional analysis of the situation lol. If you earn experience in the scene or even in higher rank, come back and we'll talk.

[@leos0257]

@@Xcey616 then tell me your Professional opinion about the situation

[@leos0257]

@@Xcey616 and do you know why he switched to valorant AKA childs game with superpowers with mixed shootergame :D

[@leos0257]

@@Xcey616 3:45 the enemy peeks badly and misses, if u miss at a position like that u shouldnt keep trying to shoot the enemy and the second guy there does t even shoot back and stands still. 6:44 the second enemy didnt even prefire peek even though he had the info that the enemy was there. 10:23 there too enemy had info where the player was with an awp but still stupidly peeked and didnt even prefire. 11:24 there was 3 players there and no1 was even shooting back and the sniper missed his shot. Overall the enemies dont even shoot back and this wouldnt even happen in csgo with utilities and people knowing how to use them right , people in valorant dont seem to play with brains as they seem to know where the player is but still they dont prefire, info or literally just wait behind a corner if u cant beat him face to face use brains and dont be stupid and try to do something you cant

[@shmeed_]

Love dimitri such a wholesome guy

[@Lat0m6]

Just about now, we need a 100T Derek because everyone knows he has a demon inside him too 😂

[@SP-dr7es]

I never understand a fucking thing in those league clips

[@786Nashe]

finally a vid on yay, very well deserved no cah not even trolling

[@xomcs8676]

and now hes finally a vct champion.. big fan..

[@cheeba2k]

Im so glad seeing pro players who didn't have a good run in cs get their spotlight in valorant.

[@Agathavgc223]

Showed up on my feed the week after they won masters. The man is cracked, what a demon

[@hikikomori581]

FINALLY SOME RECOGNITION FOR EL DIABLO LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[@yaboifiz961]

4:49 i cant unhear him sounding like tenz lmao

[@strelz9800]

Tenz sounds like him

[@cheshirest9067]

El Diablo on C9 vs The Aimhack God himself on LOUD is gonna be the tourney classic next year

[@343JustMe]

"The results are a byproduct of that" I got chills when I heard that A fellow man of culture

[@teo4232]

love how his nickname is "el diablo" but his in game name is yay :) and he's the sweetest guy ever

[@Ridlay_]

The way at the end he’s just like “I’m the last one alive?” is so funny.

[@josh-qj2zu]

I love how Valorant takes tier 2-3 NA CS players and changes them into genuine superstars at the top of their game. It’s just so cool seeing them grow

[@Littlekidjonjon]

Because Valorant is a tier 2 game :)

[@sreeramajithkumar6760]

@@Littlekidjonjon thats why it is The Esports Game Of The Year 2021 right🙂

[@Bombur728]

@@sreeramajithkumar6760 it doesn’t matter. the best valorant players were players who couldn’t make it in csgo. Tenz, Yay, Hazed couldn’t even make it in T1 CS so they moved to Valorant. It’s like the MLS, a retirement home for when players aren’t good enough

[@vywar6249]

@@Bombur728 add more: shahzam, sick, dapr, hiko, steel, wardell, there is just so much more to add, maybe with the exception of nivera, nitro and ethan which are still doing okay at least in T1 cs when they left

[@RXBSoulREAL]

@@Bombur728 It also doesn't matter CS is dying slowly.

[@boomboom5927]

I love his smile so pure

[@keikei2942]

I'd love to see where the teammates who kicked Yay from his COD team are now and how they feel about his current career

[@rarigate]

finally getting the spotlight he deserves

[@EB-lr9ei]

they won today in iceland

[@kadirhanyuksel1001]

Yay's interview reminded me of my first years learning English. Lots and lots of ''like'' thrown into every sentence.

[@zephyrod7307]

Yay’s so f’ing humble I love it

[@yesyes5912]

10:25 That enemy team lol. ShahZam, Sick and PROD

[@j0hn3ntwistle]

This video needs a counter for how many times yay says 'like' in his interview

[@juulixan1472]

watching this now is crazy

[@rainamcdermott7728]

I think the 100t coach saying nitro played monsters his whole cs career and today we played a monster is a crazy moment

[@Eddie-xo2bd]

And now he is the world champion 👑

[@m0mentum240]

literal chilllls watching this BatChest

[@str8harry]

Most bad ass nick name there is. And the name yay is sick too. He's such a humble nice dude. Favorite player.

[@mohammedgore6259]

" El diabolo is dead ! Here is the new king of helll Demon1 !!"

[@zimmerboy2782]

hes the guy at the gym with a hoodie on

[@kungfukenny9300]

This guy's aim is butter smooth

[@Lucas_mogus]

Yay is such a legend

[@Jykun]

i like how wardell gave yay the name el diablo when he was getting 30s in tourney games himself aswell lmao (back in the day atleast)

[@ayo4663]

yay the whole interview: like umm like like like like

[@LuckSucks]

10:22 yooooo is that PROD?

[@cacktii_]

lmao yes.. and he's with sick and pokisimp which was shahzam's old username lol

[@pulkitgaur]

Sad to see Optic disband. I wonder which team will he pick now.

[@sheshkebab7007]

Dimitri spitting some facts at the end tho

[@bearpunxx6768]

I'm back to this video just wanna say eL-Diablo really popping off on VCT

[@w1nther930]

I feel like a trend should start where pro players are given nicknames. Like "big boss pine" from overwatch league and El Diablo in valorant

[@Cybrtronlazr]

Ok at the end, Dmitri complaining about anti was hilarious, really BS ability sure but I find Rez and Stun a lot worse. Really nice video, I find Diablo to be one of the most entertaining players to watch.

[@pedroangelrodriguez8421]

Since in my country (Dominican Republic) we use "el Diablo" as sign of surprise, it's kinda funny everytime i hear "el Diablo" as a nickname XD

[@HealthInspectorz]

This guy is such an ads god, he uses ads a lot more than other pro players do

[@articunoxx]

And now He’s in DSG!

[@haku7335]

Yay got perfect crosshairplacement and TenZ flicking.

[@ten_cents]

the dude looks so freaking chill lmao fuck yeah

[@usayd9240]

"...and today we fought a monster"

[@I_Xell]

i like how there so cool nicknames like "Na's last hope" or "El Diablo" while Dapr is the "Tbag master"

[@funnybugger13]

"three, and four, and five! and SI"

[@haku7335]

The first time i watched Esports Valorant was ENVY vs SEN. I saw one shot of Yay and i was like: Okay im your fan. Twitterfollow,Ytsub,Twitchfollow.

[@Hemoclysm]

Need this remade after next lan.

[@lucasgosz5789]

Wow that’s crazy I live about 1 hour 30 minutes away from where yay is from

[@Sean-qk1mw]

Y is this so hype

[@asharisapro1235]

its crazy sen shazam and optic yay were in the same teams once

[@avicennateuku5555]

And now he win master

[@dravin136]

14:02 is the best review of el diablo

[@jecslide3790]

dimitri was right about the anti nades, thats why i play ana :)

[@Wizard-lz6gh]

The way he focuses on self improvement is the best.

[@alarik95]

I remember watching the Orgless run at Flashpoint 1. I was fangirling so hard for Wardell then I saw yay popping off and I was SHOCKED he was never picked up on a CS roster. My guy was stacked and fully invested. Has anyone seen the clip of yay licking the air during a clutch at Flashpoint 1?

[@aaaaaaa7887]

10:00 the old agent icons look so weird compared to now

[@jaydenlau6987]

Damn this guy really likes the word “like”

[@islasoleil7791]

I just got into watching valorant pro plays and when I saw him in VCT Reykjavik... maaan his op and jett plays were just.. *chefs kiss* even though i think yay didnt get the mvp (Was it marved?) the win was a whole team effort obviously but with him on the team there’s really nothing you have to worry about much

[@rubenenriqueschmidt4364]

The guy reminds me a lot of Perkz in the way he laughs while he talks

[@sharpeningrod6441]

On the note of anti-heal at the very end of the video: there's this little game called Paladins who used to compete with Overwatch, and in that game they had mechanic called "Cauterize" for the longest time (which is about to be a base mechanic in the game). I wonder what the effects it would have on Overwatch if there's a reduced healing received for a certain amount of time after being hit by weapon attacks. Maybe a time-scaling Cauterize and Wrecker effect could be healthy for the game instead of whatever the fuck they're doing with that game now.

[@hydrasfla8294]

in game he be 👿🔥👹 but irl he be ☺️✌️🥳

[@DdeathDrone]

Dude the ending is so cursed

[@yayiiiii.]

Fun fact wardell made a team in csgo it was with subrora,fns,yay,wardell,and infinite

[@wltaloof3747]

And now hes won the championship with optic gaming

[@yeahhyouvish]

Don't take a shot everytime he says 'like', you'd die.

[@smkow9843]

its crazy how many careers has valorant saved

[@micky-oe5ic]

Lets make a demon squad :- el diablo , el goblino and more.

[@rafaelmayer4317]

Do a video about Aspas, the final Boss of Valorant. Ranked top 1 Global 3 times.

[@MekaniQ]

yay!

[@greatalphagodgaming413]

bro just imagine if yay was still on cod Those quickscoping tryhards would have nightmares of him