Xeppaa departs from Cloud9 after five years; FireBallOps joins

Cloud9 has announced the departure of VALORANT pro Erick “Xeppaa” Bach from the organization.

This partnership, which kicked off in 2021 with CS, lasted 5 years and two esports titles. 

Xeppaa and Cloud9 

After making a lot of waves in the NA CS scene with the Chaos Esports club, Xeppaa joined Cloud9 at the start of 2021. The move did not work as intended, and he officially transitioned to VALORANT in April of the same year. 

Xeppaa, alongside Vanity, leaf, Xeta, and mitch, quickly became one of the best teams in NA, winning the LCQ to qualify for the inaugural VALORANT Champions 2021. Despite being the third seed, Xeppaa and Cloud9 were the only NA team to qualify for the Playoffs. Eventually losing to Team Liquid in the Quarterfinals. 

In 2022, they failed to make it to the international, and after Xeta and Autumn left the organization. In 2023, the organization found its spot in the newly formed VCT Americas league, where Xeppaa was one of the key pieces of the roster. Unfortunately, for the next two years of franchising, Xeppaa and Cloud9 did not set foot on the International stage. 

A Turbulent 2026

Similar to the previous years, Cloud9 remained a middle-of-the-pack team. They weren’t terrible by any means, but they always failed to make it to the big stages. Even with one of the brightest prodigies in Oxy on the squad, Xeppaa and co. repeatedly failed to support the young star. 

With the dwindling results and v1c taking a break, Xeppaa also announced he would take a break from competing on May 14. 

Now, Cloud9 has announced that Xeppaa will be stepping away from the roster. On his X, he announced that he will not be retiring and will return to streaming shortly. 

Irrespective of the results, Xeppaa’s tenure on Cloud9 represents the unwavering loyalty a player had for a team. Despite the community’s comments, many of his teammates and staff hold him in high regard, and it’d be interesting to see what he achieves in VALORANT outside of Cloud9. 

What's next for Cloud9?

With penny, v1c, and Xeppaa gone, only 2 of the original Cloud9 2026 remain. Cloud9 had already announced the addition of Jackk and Notexxd. As the fifth and final member of the team, they will be adding former Blue Otter and Nightblood Gaming member Cameron "FireBallOps" Tomaselli. The roster will debut at the VCT Americas 2026: Stage 2. 

Check out Strafe Esports for all the latest VALORANT news, and our X account for the latest content and coverage. Also, stay tuned to Strafe YouTube for exclusive interviews, press conferences, and more.

Featured Image Credit: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games

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