Valorant fans question if Yay is “washed” after underwhelming VCT return

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. 

Yay has not won an official match in over a year #VCTPacific pic.twitter.com/MnQwYy7XG0

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.