The Tragedy of Valorant's Lost Superstar

yay was the greatest Valorant player in the world. The best player in the world, a beloved personality, and a Masters champion.
But almost as quickly as he rose to the top, yay hit rock bottom. Kicked from a top team, forced down into the lower leagues, and even out of his own region.
The god of Valorant has fallen - and it feels like it’s almost impossible for anyone to rise to take his place.
Hosted by: Dimitri Pascaluta (@DPascaluta)
Written by: Niall McCrossan (@NiallMccrossan)
Edited by: Sam Gore (@famgore)
Produced by: Alina Sotula (@ASotula), Jason Durante (@JayJay_Durante), and Danielle Rosen (@_DanielleRosen)
Thumbnail by: Emmanuel Adarkwah
Production assistance: Jason Lo (@JasonLobsterr)
Footage credits: pastebin.com/zNtSKtL7
Music used under license from Associated Production Music LLC (”APM”).
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[@Neecha1]

C9 in 2023: We lost our first 2 games. kick a player. C9 in 2024: We lost our first 2 games. kick a player.

[@vedantsharma561]

Guess what they are planning to do in 2025 lmao

[@MightyFartBomber1]

It worked out for them in 2023 tho. Wasnt a champion team but they became hella strong

[@Sugarist0]

@@MightyFartBomber1didn’t even make a lan. Sure they were decent, but for a roster so hyped up, decent is not enough

[@gecko33yusuf60]

🤣@@vedantsharma561

[@drishaanpaliwal]

That's cuz the championship winning roster EG f'ed em up, only if mibr actually had not defeated 100T, Cloud9 would have made it to masters

[@user82564]

He isn’t bad on Jett nor is he a bad player . He just needs an igl who knows how to set him up as well saadhak did to aspas and FNS did to him.

[@ExtremeVAL]

True

[@MightyFartBomber1]

Nah its pretty much like it was with tenz before. Dudes gotta expand his agent pool and avoid having the team adapt and play around him. Any team he's in would have to make an agent comp around yay's jett/chamber. Jett/chamber wont work at every map and everyone will have to adjust to make room for his play style. C9 was right about role issues. At this meta if you can't play more than 2 agents then you're quite behind already.

[@Evan-xs8ts]

The main problem is that all gunfights are fast-paced and close-range now. The maps have changed for the worse, and the agents that enabled this aim (jett and chamber) have fallen to unviable levels on most maps. Yay hit every shot at a medium to long range, but if you never get those fights anymore, you won't get a chance to hit those shots.

[@karanpatoliya460]

ethan & boostio did to demon1

[@whereisaim4022]

I like how this show how important igl/coaches are but what the heck is prx then

[@JustACommenter-0518]

If Yay wants to reach OPTIC Yay level again, either Riot buffs Chamber to Meta again or Yay adapts the current meta and have a wide agent pool

[@Reyter]

the truth is Optic lvl yay will never be achieved again, he was the best at chamber and chamber before all nerfs was the most broken agent of all time, he can adapt and can probably still dominate but what he did in optic will probably never happened again

[@ItsWhatever736]

​@@Reyter it's because his aim was insane in combination with Chamber. But not even his aim is half as good as it was.

[@yonko8231]

people say this as if he wasnt one of the best jett players too, val players are delusional

[@Thehyperfury]

its probabably because his team can't properly set him up not in c9 neither in dsg

[@ceoflippers]

​@@yonko8231the truth is he isn't playing either of those agents right now so the point still stands

[@prefontaine2790]

The way Tenz was able to frag out on Omen lately is a good example of what Yay needs to grow into. You can't be the aggressive hyper-carry forever. No one can stay at the top of their game forever. Eventually you have to rely on more than reaction speed & audacity. Intelligent play & good team synergy is key for when you're not just full-blown out-aiming everyone.

[@therantingcat7891]

He was never that type to out aim everyone with flicks like Tenz tho. He's a great duelist for a structured team like any FNS-led team. If you watch his streams, he actually plays like a CSGO vet with how he cleared corners and read enemy positions before taking fights. This is more about him not having the synergy that made him great with Optic. Players like him need that structure to reach their peak regardless of agent roles.

[@xdd543]

tenz is great but his support system is insane and the synergy in sen is something that is hard to replicate.

[@Ty_Drifts]

you mean to say these players are failing in valorant for the same reasons they could never make it in cs?

[@miruru09]

​@@therantingcat7891 i like ur analysis and somewhat agree with that, and with that analysis which team that exist rn is suit yay behaviour, if we're allowed to imagine

[@therantingcat7891]

@@miruru09 I think he should go EU if he doesn't want to work for an NA team anymore. I just don't think the structure of play in Pacific is suited to his slow-burn pace of play. Yay can frag out, but I think his best has always been with teams like Optic (Any FNS team can make him go back to form) or Fnatic (But Derke's already there). There's no team I can think of aside from Karmine Corp and the previous two I just mentioned that can make it work with him. I'm still holding out hope for Bleed tho.

[@the_monarch2172]

13:39 you can tell they already had most of the video recorded but they added this part in because BLEED flopped out of groups

[@nknguyen2877]

oh yeah about BLEED, they spraks a bit of drama when they kicked a player and retired one off after 2 games - one of whom was quite a OG fps player here in Vietnam. And they did it in quite a shady style - and by mean shady, it kinda went close enough to list itself in the same place with Cadian and his former Heroic's CS team.

[@waylee7121]

i feel like could be in a tenz situation wherein he's put in a spot that wont make him showcase his full potential but once the right pieces arrive he'll dominate again

[@Junkjsbetter]

Definitely

[@xfrankenstein6981]

yay was one of the best mechanically gifted players and probably still is. bro had amazing crosshair placement and flicks. people just fixate on his chamber gameplay when what made yay yay was his skills themselves. man fragged out on sage on his optic days but was amazing on jett too. chamber was just so busted that you needed to use him and he just played chamber the best. the only issue is he needs a team structured around him to shine the most, just like most other duelist players. given the correct opportunity im sure he can takeover once again.

[@B..P..]

No team is gonna risk on a IF. They want results and its too risky to give yay a chance. Also Yay is not cheap.

[@yuyu8466]

This video as a yay fan hurts me. Sucks to see him like this after his year in 2022. We still believe in the yay comeback 🙏🙏

[@emilianorosario5935]

i just think that yay's entire story is a testament to what truly matters in VALORANT: flexibility. pro players cant expect to stay at the top doing the same thing over and over again, playing the same agents and sticking to one meta. we've seen this in FNATIC and NAVI losing an elimination game to two of the lowest rated teams in EU, and Tenz having to expand his agent pool in order to be at the top again. The players and the teams that are CONSISTENTLY at the top are the ones that ADAPT. This is why the best players in the world arent ppl like yay or demon1, they're ppl like Forsaken, Chronicle, and Saadhak. On top of having good mechanics, they're the ones who have truly learned the game the most, so they can shift across different metas very easily. Also... its a team game. You can only go so far with a star player carrying the team.

[@vitthalkudav4213]

much credit goes to fns for utilizing yay's potential and making a team structured around yay. also optic started playing chamber earlier than other teams so yay became more confident on it. but sadly he stayed in the past and didnt make any changes to his playstyle or got into a team which was better fit for him. just think about it, the last match yay won was lock in against prx the only match he played in franchise. he was just not ready for the change valorant is going through and yay either needs time like tenz to get comfortable on other roles or he should have an entire team made around him (supporting his jett or chamber) where the later is just not plausible.

[@HellOzzzGaming]

VALORANT superstars = being the best for a year.

[@Dennis-if6fo]

And in CS its different? Look at the Donk hype after one tournament

[@HellOzzzGaming]

@@Dennis-if6fo Placing expectations and having a following that is gonna follow ur every move in cs isn't u being a superstar. It's called being a promising talent that people will have eyes on due the crazy achievment he had in his big ever LAN.

[@fqrrel]

⁠​⁠@@Dennis-if6foS1mple? Since his debut with NaVi in 2016, he’s pretty much consistent. The main difference between csgo and valorant is that csgo doesn’t have many balance issues like valorant. Valorant meta shift every year and you can’t rely on your mechanic alone to win the game unlike csgo

[@jorgeenchilada]

@@Dennis-if6fo wtf are you saying LMAO S1mple was the best for years and Zywoo has been the best for years. Even Cold was good for multiple years and so was olof. Completely the opposite in CS.

[@silentKeys20]

Maybe because Valorant actually changes as a game over time while CS has been the the same for the last 15 years sans CS2 , which is more or less the same anyway.

[@jaredchacon2645]

Man that optic loud rivalry was incredible man

[@jackalpwn42]

Well, this was literally a question on my mind, thank you for the video!

[@harinivasanc9490]

Man, he still is my favourite player. What a humble guy with incredible talent. I hope he comes back stronger and becomes the yay we know from optic. El Diablitoooooo !!

[@urbad411]

He ruined crazyguy and Egoist's careers because his ego is too big. L Diablo

[@TayfunOmer]

he is everything but humble. Also, his playstyle is not fit for a duelist, I will not wonder to see him main chamber/kj/cypher only because of his passiveness.

[@TetGodOfGames]

He called DSG worse than ranked players (which is true) but still not the nicest thing to do on social media.

[@naizy]

he didnt? they had military service youre tarded@@urbad411

[@yashdd7521]

​@@urbad411yeah that was Between sscary and crazyguy, you can see in ascension last year, yay had to do Nothing's he joined a sinking boat

[@AggroOgre]

Wish him all the best! We have a lot in common, still remember his crosshair placement guide, helped a lot :)

[@shoking0179]

He is my favorite player since i watch the KRU vs OPTC and i still cheering for him. Watching him in DSG. The team didn't work he wasn't playing well and now with Bleed the coach isn't helpful but i still hope that he will be on top again. Maybe not the same as it was with OpTic but he will raise to the top again.

[@EpiCNN]

the stax wave against c9 is still one of the greatest moments ever

[@rikray7087]

when you avenge your APAC brothers moment

[@adrielliga5843]

I love stax

[@vinayurs4123]

Sad man hope he gets his redemption arc soon

[@rafaelm3523]

he had 2 chances to prove himself again yet he still failed

[@jotarokujo6440]

@@rafaelm3523they put him on Viper

[@afggg8194]

@@rafaelm3523 he failed cause they put him on skye in lotus and viper lol

[@zeaccu934]

@@afggg8194 lol thats the problem on him his agent pool is not flexible, look at other players like forsaken,tenz,som and demon1 who is probably known for duelist role, but they playing flex in this currnt meta. Yay right now is looking like the 2022 washed version of tenz that can only play there comfort picks

[@afggg8194]

@@zeaccu934 hes not flexible, Ill give you that but he is good on duelist, they literally won a map because they put him on jett but the other 2 maps were on viper and they lost both maps. Just cause he cant play on chamber, don't mean he's limited to just that, he fits a duelist role really well

[@batatanna]

If anything we've learnt so far. The fate of all valorant stars is to fade away into a controller.

[@dankx8063]

yay is still very much a talented player. even though his impact isn't seen much lately we still do see glimpses of what he is capable of. obviously as just a fan i wouldn't know the problem, all i have is what i see from hindsight. just hope he can bring it together and improve, as much as i missed seeing the old optic yay dominating on chamber, we need to see a new yay that can dominate on different agents.

[@haku7335]

Ive been a Yayfan since like 21 or smth when i saw him in my first ever vctmatch i watched.

[@anca1ag0n37]

It’s brutal to see yay unable to widen his agent pool when the similarly mechanically gifted demon1 plays random controllers at the same level. He needs to either be more flexible or bring his jett back to the highest level. But that would still need him to be a good Raze as a primary duelist. Things are different now. Even IGLs need to frag; and they often do.

[@sydknee-ue9qb]

Demon1 already out of kick off too 😬

[@xdd543]

bro demon1 is washed too 🤡

[@thegoblinwholaughs1137]

1 bad game = washed @@xdd543he and team were fraggin 2-0 every matches

[@Blade_Venom]

Well most igls frag except for one person 😂

[@akshatdwivedi2675]

​@@xdd543lmao, sure buddy

[@justRedX]

It's interesting because post C9 he's been rumored to be a really good sentinel outside of chamber. Vanity said after Bleed crashed out he wasn't sure why his KJ hasn't bee shown because it showed promise (hinting Vanity had ideas going into 2023 with it before they got dropped). Now that egoist has retired, maybe he takes that mantle? As Senti/Jett flex, his Jett game was mid, but not trash. They should innovate and lean into these chamber maps too, icebox, lotus, bind especially, as needed.

[@jugertmucoimaj9017]

props to crashies being so chill about yay

[@kaiya7942]

For those who don't follow valorant news, theScore esports actually left out a lot of info this time as it seems they barely researched and roughly patched things together fast. There was also misinformation at times in the video so if you want to know more info you'll need to look it up on your own

[@jc8153]

Can you give us the misinformation pointers at least?

[@bhargavgandavarapu3617]

He will be remembered as El Diablo himself

[@atharvsinghvats2142]

HOW HAVE I ALRDY WATCHED THIS VID WITHIN A MIN OF UPLOAD

[@iamosoli493]

I think yay will get his redemption sooner or later. Similar to star players in cs a lot of them need just a Igl or supporting forces that elevate their strength and hide their weaknesses. Yay has clear ideas about the game that just don’t work anymore in the current meta and the foreseeable future unless he can get someone to break him down and build him back up again

[@Stormblessed_Tempo]

I think its not the teams fault nor the orgs fault, I think yay's mental has been damaged so bad that it's hard for him to make plays anymore and I do believe mental plays a big role in performing well. He is good but he needs to fix his mental first and start on the basics again like aim and mechanics he needs to be confident first in his abilities before he becomes confident with a team, he needs to respect other teams ( that sometimes other teams are just better and he needs to learn how to counter that ) , the fact and truth is he is not good anymore but he can be again if he learns to humble himself and start from the beginning what ever region you go in there will always be good players whether its NA or Pacific, He was 0-8 i think in a match here in the pacific if I remember .

[@silveroseyoutube]

This thumbnail got that early 2 thousands mystery/horror movie vibe 😂

[@rafaelmayer4317]

One day he will come back

[@smazkaruina]

I'm here with you brother. One day El Diablo will come back and take over Valorant once more

[@kazim4734]

is el diablo truly dead or is there a new king of hell

[@brunoc330]

when you have a lot to prove, the pressure goes to the roof. Not an easy thing to handle

[@Sugarist0]

What the past year has shown is that fns and yay needed each other, nrg lacked consistent fragging while yay was stuck without a top tier igl that knew how to set him up. What’s worse is that yay is now part 2 franchised teams that made dramatic roster changes only 2 matches into the season, no matter what sport it is, these changes make it hard to build chemistry. Optic had a whole year together before their massive 2022

[@DJTruntz]

This left out the twitter drama that was, imo, more than 50% responsible for the destruction of his reputation

[@haseungjung605]

I feel like yay just had to be in a really comfortable place to play well

[@helveklikk]

Keep in mind that the parting of ways between Yay and C9 happened when lots of layoffs were happening in Esports and C9 was nowhere near profitable, so they had to save money somehow and getting rid of the biggest star (and likely an expensive one) was the easiest way to get rid of some costs...

[@mcrksman]

His success was definitely a combination of many factors - the team built around him, the meta at the time, and of course his own raw mechanics. I don't think he's adapted to the new meta well at all, even if you were to put him in a team giving him as much support as optic now, he'd not have nearly as much impact as back then.

[@chonkysharky9163]

I have some insider knowledge in bleed that the boss is really pissed off at yay's recent performance and is thinking about releasing his contract

[@sayemsaruwar]

Yay's unupgraded ion operator used to give me such a headache

[@wonyo2563]

He still has chances. We gotta wait for the regular season to fully evaluate him.

[@jagason7494]

dam i forgot how close that match against loud vs optic was loud must of felt so depressed but they won champs tho so its ight

[@ItzClobert]

Long story short, he's just REALLY good at one agent, Chamber. Even his Jett is a bit lacking. So when it wasn't Chamber meta anymore, he faltered cause of his lack of a hero pool.

[@victor8284]

I feel like we see this happen often. A player reaches superstar level, gets paid a big bag, then loses a lot of the ambition they had before. He still has the ability, just currently not the drive.

[@jhoss47]

There seems to have been many players' peak with the height of the chamber meta with yay, cryo, etc

[@ceoflippers]

Yeah, the difference is cryo is still performing somewhat well and is on a much higher potential team, whereas yays potential for more success on bleed is looking quite slim

[@jovanchalive]

What are those earbuds Ethos is wearing?

[@hslo8653]

People underestimate how much value crashies fns and marved support provides

[@ChiiBomb]

Crashies is so sweet! But why was Ethos the other one interviewed? 😂😂😂 he’s not even a valorant pro player

[@demonvibxzzz676]

he is the 6th man of NRG

[@smazkaruina]

Brooooo, I hope next year yay reunites with Vic, Crashies and Marved and they make a dynasty again)

[@Banda_07]

talk about consistency

[@fluxetcetera1554]

poor yay

[@CorporalCornGaming]

he'll be back

[@anrew7529]

HE WILL ALWAYS BE MY GOAT

[@jonathanpenafiel8603]

No one else's he is an amazing opper and entry, but if he isn't getting help to entry with flashes or etc he loses fights, no one helps him like FNS did in optic

[@lNeVaR]

You did him dirty with the thumbnail 😂😂😂

[@Fc11124]

Bleed should of put him on chamber instead of viper

[@Ectopl4sm]

He will be missed 🙏

[@z_s4life]

El Diablo is in his slumber. When he wakes, the world will crumble under his feet.

[@pneumavlr]

0:50 vic just left poor chet hanging

[@keisukesakamori]

the most important thing for a pro player is attitude and wanting to learn and get better nobody is tenz by birth, nobody is born able to hit radiant from birth. it takes a process. wanting to learn and be better is the most important thing also humble

[@user-wm4ql6hb2e]

Yay needd to pull a tenz and expand his agent pool, duelist with only aim wont work anymore

[@macchupicchuu]

i agree

[@va1na14]

I mean when you got crashies supporting you, FNS igling, Marved backing the team up with them clutches, and victor being victor, And you have that good aim, its literally bound to succeed Then you put leaf and yay together, get the roles messed up. Then you put egoist, yay and deryeon together, the roles get messed up

[@tyleryoung2744]

Just needs to ignore the pressure and he will fuck em up

[@rpchn5698]

I just find out Bleed new member Retla used to play for PRX

[@xsomili5501]

He needs to follow tenz and widen his agent pool

[@jenostheascended7818]

I think the Yay situation is way overblown, at the end of 2021 most people would have agreed that Cned was the best player in the world (at least in his role) he couldn't do the same in Chamber meta, the same happened to Yay in 2022, after Chamber died his value went way down. He's still a great player, so is Cned, others just keep getting better, new talent emerges, and with the changes in the meta there will always be someone better. It's a bit early to say the same is happening to Demon1 but with so much young talent coming unto the league every season it would be incredible for someone to be the best multiple years in a row.

[@demonvibxzzz676]

As a Yay fan I honestly agree with you. People fr should do research before talking. Very valid points you made tho

[@jenostheascended7818]

@@demonvibxzzz676 yeah I love Yay, great player and an awesome personality, but people just try to make storylines out of nothing

[@jithu5951]

"The Tragedy of Valorant's Lost Superstar" ? I thought someone died seeing this

[@harsha3706]

Yay Mysterio

[@CantCookForLife]

Marved and FNS did alot to enable him. He needs a solid team

[@BonShula]

If he had destroyed the horcruxes maybe he would not been lost at King's kross hell

[@delinquent3574]

Talk about Wardell's fall from grace next

[@nbain]

I miss OpTic Valorant man :(

[@gahbalgoo2589]

Why he look like Obi Wan Kenobi after Anakin goes to the darkside in the thumbnail. 🤣

[@MahdiHassan-bx2ki]

You forgot to mention the true reason. Optic let yay roam freely with his OP. He would take a lot of aggressive angles and generate free kills and if things went south his team was there. His jett is far too passive to be an entry jett aka main duelist. He is and always has been the second entry after victor. Now his jett is out of equation and his chamber is not viable today/ So the main thing is this guy has no agent

[@vaibhav7219]

Dude became the KennyS of Valorant

[@lordlycan296]

whats the random 100 thieves clip doing in a yay montage 💀wrong video guys

[@vincentsudario3322]

LOUD vs OPTC would be always a classic

[@xCeresLoL]

El Diablo is asleep rn, he still exists and he will make his return but lets see when he is about to awake from the shadows

[@ahmadpochinki1244]

Is sad on c9 like yay played 2 times and getting fired and yes is hard time in dsg i feel like to much pressure on him like he need adjusting young teammate maybe he forcing igl

[@DIce-dx2zy]

yay need to be a little patient with the team.. considering that none of the team he joins are at optic level.. it will be better for a team to be better gradually rather than gambling through players hoping they could fit.. and if he wants the team to be build around him then at least he could start playing raze..

[@DIce-dx2zy]

i think bleed need to get benkai to replace retla and try to play like the old prx.. with deryeon and yay it as double duelist would be fun

[@hungryasf4147]

Ethos sharing his opinions on here kinda wild, ngl.

[@rahmadrizaldy7544]

Is there a chance the cause of his downfall is because of the title of the best player? The pressure of everyone expectation and mantaining that title is too much to handle? But whatever the reason was, i still respect him and hope to see him again in a pro scene

[@NLY_GH0ST]

I think that with the chamber meta slowly but surely returning, its only a matter of time before Yay gets his perfect opportunity

[@adilghaznavi3948]

What chamber meta lmao

[@NLY_GH0ST]

@@adilghaznavi3948 The chamber meta that took valorant by storm in 2022?

[@adilghaznavi3948]

@@NLY_GH0ST no I'm saying it's not returning at all

[@NLY_GH0ST]

@@adilghaznavi3948 With the buffs chamber has gotten, he is slowly finding his way back up there He will by no means be nearly as powerful as he was before, but his buffs make him very pickable

[@adilghaznavi3948]

@@NLY_GH0ST no he's not. Pick rate is still zero. Chamber is over.

[@homieg4655]

why is ethos in this video like he was on optic 💀

[@jancarlocamaya8381]

Without the Chamber meta, yay is just okay. Nothing much other than that.

[@nanannananan1553]

I just wish the optic roster was able to stick together 😩

[@alfajer8919]

Yay: The Finished Chamber Merchant

[@xavier2094]

This is so sad, can we get a Ripbozo for BigPuffer

[@sherrymartini_]

Toast's silent disappointment is always funny to me xD

[@zafraan3038]

Maybe yay has some health issues? That's a decent possibility.

[@ArJayDM]

People that boil this down to, "its cause chamber isn't good ☝️🤓" are either trolling or actually just repeating things they hear. Chamber had nothing to do with his crazy aim, crosshair placement and quick reactions. There's something much bigger going on with yay, it has to be a mental thing because chamber doesn't make you suddenly aim like yay was aiming back then. Not to mention the obvious, which is that he got his nickname playing Jett

[@azrrrrrrrr]

if he wasnt abusing chamber he was abusing awp. both of those were super op back in the day. he was never as good on rifles.

[@Baron-bt1ls]

@@azrrrrrrrrlmao what

[@azrrrrrrrr]

@@Baron-bt1ls what what? Both awp as a weapon and chamber and jett as champions were omega op when he used them. Now whent they are finally nerfed he is literally irrelevant

[@artomania4212]

@@azrrrrrrrr Tf bro. I think yay had the cleanest aim on vandal back ahead . He did not spray but moreover was focused on give headshots and just one tapping em

[@LaloEhrmantraut]

@@azrrrrrrrrlol the awp hasn't been touched in over 3 years...

[@Ayeskkies]

RIP YAY RIP DEMON1

[@akshshah7691]

Now they realize why its always the team and not the single legendary player Just like how sen got it now

[@h8_mE]

2:19 The Japanese casters screaming "yay'. 😆

[@garretblair2078]

So chamber has to be absolutely broken for yay to be the best?? Serious question

[@intro3912]

Finished chamber merchant 😢😭

[@illastration1]

I feel like Valorant has a new best player in the world every week. The game just isn't about mechanical skill like other games such as CS so no one can dominate for long periods.

[@sandhikneaj7029]

That C9 team was never going to work. Too much cholesterol.

[@Nicoooo88]

When crashies talk about ego thats the definition of demon1😂

[@shepard21]

I think yay suffers from other things, and the chamber nerf is just one small factor.

[@khaledsalameh98]

Did crashies almost say “it’s time to learn Chinese” at the end ???💀💀