Cloud9’s Leaf Dominates VCT Americas Week 5 with Impressive Performance Against Sentinels

Cloud9 has been the talk of the 2023 VCT Americas season after an eventful offseason, securing a spot in the playoffs and beating every other North American team except for LOUD, the world champions and LOCK//IN finalists.

Nathan “leaf” Orf’s performance against Sentinels on April 30 was nothing short of heroic, as he led Cloud9 to a blowout win without playing his best agent, Jett.

Orf played Neon on Lotus, and Sentinels couldn’t keep up with the speed and space he created. With an impressive +8 in K/D, 7-3 in opening duels, and effective use of Neon walls combined with cover from Dylan “runi” Cade’s Viper and Jake “jakee” Anderson’s Omen, leaf proved to be the difference maker. He switched to Skye on Fracture and still managed to put up duelist-like numbers, racking up 22 kills against only nine deaths.

Orf led the week five VCT Americas leaderboard in K/D, average combat score, and first kills per round, according to VLR.gg. He tied with jakee for second in kill-assist-survive-trade (KAST) percentage with 86%, and finished second in damage per round, just behind NRG’s crashies.

Leaf was Cloud9’s primary Jett player and Operator wielder before the arrival of yay, but he has since returned to his iconic role after yay’s departure before the start of the season. The match against Sentinels was the first time he had played this season without using Jett at all.

At 19 years old, Orf is the team’s longest-standing member, having served on the Cloud9 VALORANT roster for over two years, and he won’t turn 20 until November, months after the conclusion of Champions 2023.