New York finish squad wipe, Mack & Vivid now Free Agents

Cloud9 New York has officially announced the departure of Makenzie "Mack" Kelley and Reece "Vivid" Drost from their starting roster, marking another significant shift for the franchise as the Black Ops 7 season continues to take shape. The moves confirm a complete reset of the franchise yet again, heading into Stage 2.

Both players joined Cloud9 with the expectation of providing stability and veteran experience. Vivid was tasked with bringing his trademark map pressure to the squad, but was unable to really get going. For Stage I, Vivid had a 0.88 K/D with a 79.5 Slayer Rating. He was unable to really get going in any of the three modes, but did have 3 SND clutches and 4 goals in Overload.

Mack offered flexibility in roles when signing with New York, having previously shown he can perform at an elite level when in form, playing both roles. He ended Stage I with a 0.91 Overall K/D with a team-high 88.8 Slayer Rating. He struggled individually in both SND & Overload, but played well in Hardpoint. Ranking 7th in Kills per 10 minutes (26.7), Mack showed he still has it in the respawn mode.

Although the duo had strong moments individually, the roster struggled to find consistent cohesion across all three game modes. With Mack and Vivid now off the starting lineup, Cloud9 New York’s offseason overhaul appears far from finished. Their departures also place two proven CDL-caliber players back into the player pool, while Cloud9 will be on the lookout for four new starting players.