Within the span of only a 12 months, Jaccob “yay” Whiteaker is already incomes his place within the pantheon of esports greats.
The 24-year-old was awarded Esports PC Participant of the 12 months at The Sport Awards 2022, beating out a discipline stacked with legends like Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev, Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon, and Finn “karrigan” Andersen.
The Cloud9 Valorant star made a reputation for himself this 12 months on OpTic Gaming, powering them to a championship win at Masters Reykjavik and consecutive top-three finishes at Copenhagen and Champions 2022.
Yay is your Esports PC Participant of the 12 months at The Sport Awards 2022
When OpTic did not safe a franchising spot within the Americas league for 2023, yay rapidly turned one of many hottest commodities available on the market.
Whereas the OpTic roster had hoped to discover a new residence as 5, it quickly turned clear that their star participant’s buyout would make that not possible.
He ultimately signed with Cloud9, remodeling them in a single day into a brilliant group to be careful for. Yay’s consistency all through 2022 has been unequalled, main the sphere in a number of statistics at consecutive worldwide LAN occasions.
Whereas different gamers would have standout performances, yay was singular in his affect all 12 months.
The competitors he beat speaks volumes about his achievements. Three-time League of Legends world champion Faker is without doubt one of the best gamers of all time, whereas s1mple is at all times within the dialog as the most effective participant in CS:GO.
In the meantime, karrigan made historical past because the oldest participant to win a CS:GO Main at 32 throughout the PGL Main Antwerp 2022, lastly main FaZe Clan to their first Main win. The storied in-game chief is without doubt one of the most achieved within the recreation, and his Antwerp victory can also be the primary time a global lineup has gained a Main.
Gen.G mid laner Chovy helped his group win their first-ever LCK championship in the summertime, sweeping T1 3-0 within the grand remaining. He was considered among the best mid laners going into Worlds 2022, the place Gen.G positioned third to 4th.
That mentioned, yay maintained his type all year long, main the way in which for his group at Champions 2022 with a chart-topping 96 first kills and solely 40 first deaths. Lauded for his mechanical talent and understanding of the sport, he’s now poised to make his debut with Cloud9 on the Purple Bull House Floor 3 match, the place Cloud9 are one of many favorites to take all of it.
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