Former “Gamer of The Year” and Valorant star Yay garners flak from fans after a lackluster performance and early exit on VCT Pacific Kickoff 2024.
Every Valorant fan kept their eyes peeled on the much-awaited debut of star player Yay in the Pacific region. Yay signed with Bleed Esports to compete in the 2024 season after missing nearly the whole VCT 2023 season due to his split from North American org Cloud9.
Nevertheless, Yay’s return appears to be a testament to the adage “the higher you climb, the harder you fall” following backlash from his Kickoff tournament performance. Once widely considered one of the Valorant GOATs, Yay now experiences the opposite side of public attention after Bleed Esports bowed out early from the competition.
In a post on X, a Valorant Esports commentator noted that Yay has not won a single series match in a year, with his last win extending as far back as February 2023 with Cloud9 against Paper Rex.
Meanwhile, Valorant fans on Reddit also joined in the conversation surrounding Yay’s underwhelming return to the pro scene.
One Reddit thread shared different memes and comments, ranging from calling the Chamber-main player “washed” to debunking old claims of the player being Valorant’s GOAT.
However, it seems like not all players and fans agree on dogpiling against Yay’s first pro appearance in a year. It is noteworthy that Yay rose to prominence during Chamber’s dominant era, and after several nerfs and nukes to Chamber’s kit, Yay’s KDA notably decreased, too.
One comment on the aforementioned Reddit thread seems to have noticed the connection between a “role player” like Yay and other Valorant pros who can seemingly take on any agent. The comment section defends Yay to be the “Best Chamber in the world,” but is now far off to being the best Valorant pro in the scene.
Moreover, fans have also noticed that Bleed Esports wasn’t using Yay to their advantage. The decorated pro player was forced to play Skye and Viper during their VCT Pacific Kickoff matches, two agents whose roles are far from Yay’s expertise.
Replies to the post also noted that some players are simply not comfortable with playing “flex roles,” and it’s up to the team to use the player’s expertise and focus to their advantage.
But it doesn’t seem like the end of the road anytime soon for Yay. With a massive Chamber buff in play in the upcoming Valorant patch, we could expect more Yay highlights and impressive op-shots once Bleed Esports returns to VCT Pacific League play in April.
Many Yay fans and supporters are still hoping that “El Diablo” will once again rise from the ashes, and this is but a simple bump in the road that would launch him into greater possibilities in the future.