Nearly a month after winning the Evolution Championship Series, Canadian Super Smash Bros. for Wii U player Elliot "Ally" Bastien Carroza-Oyarce has come to an agreement to join multi-game esports team Cloud9, sources close to the organization and player tell ESPN. Ally is considered one of the best Mario players in Smash for Wii U, alongside the likes of Community Effort Orlando winner Jason "ANTi" Bates.
The deal comes off the back of Ally's summer success, beginning with Get On My Level 2016 in May, where he took first place over Gonzalo "ZeRo" Barrios, Larry "Larry Lurr" Holland and Nairoby "Nairo" Quezada. Ally continued to place highly (aside from 49th at Community Effort Orlando), taking first at Smash 'N' Splash 2 in June and then winning Evo in July over Japanese challenger Takuto "Kamemushi" Ono.
While the deal was already being negotiated beforehand, Ally most recently took home first in the eGames Showcase in Rio De Janeiro during the weekend.
Ally will join the team -- widely considered one of the biggest organizations in esports -- as its second Super Smash Bros. player. Its first was Super Smash Bros. Melee god Joseph "Mang0" Marquez. While Ally will be the first Smash for Wii U player, sources say the team has taken interest in others in the past, notably ZeRo, but never chose to fully pursue a deal until now.
Since being established in 2013 by former Team SoloMid general manager and former Crunchyroll Vice President of Sales, Jack Etienne, with the purchase of Quantic Gaming's League of Legends team, Cloud9 has expanded its holdings across multiple games. The organization currently houses two teams in League of Legends, as well as in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Hearthstone, Overwatch, Call of Duty and Halo.
Cloud9 did not respond to a request for comment.
Update: Since this publication, Ally has confirmed that he has joined Cloud9.