K1Ng is already shaping up as the heir to MaKo’s VALORANT throne as best Viper in the Pacific

As the 2023 VCT leagues begin their normal circuits after the massive opening LOCK//IN tournament, fans are starting to get a look at the best from each region.

Many of the players in the 2023 VCT have already made names for themselves in professional VALORANT, including a Korean star who many consider one of the best Viper players in the world.

DRX’s MaKo should be a household name by now for any fan of professional VALORANT, but just in case you aren’t familiar with him, he was one of the best controller players in the world last year, praised alongside former OpTic controller Marved. MaKo’s Viper, in particular, made a huge difference for DRX and enabled a lot of their success in 2022.

But while MaKo still sits on his poisonous throne for now, another Korean VALORANT player seems to be giving him a run for his money—Gen.G’s k1Ng.

Coming into the VCT Pacific league this year, DRX are undoubtedly still the team to beat. They are the Asian team with the most success at any international tournament after their third-place finish at 2022 Champions Istanbul. And at the opening event of the 2023 season, the veteran team still showed up with great form.

Overall, DRX’s biggest issue has been consistency. There are games where the squad looks unorganized and disconnected, then times when everything falls right into place. The instances of the latter are, more often than not, enabled by MaKo’s ability to divide and control the map. When MaKo is having a good day, odds are the rest of DRX are too.

Some similar energy seems to be circulating around Gen.G, DRX’s countrymen, as we saw at LOCK//IN in São Paulo.

Gen.G’s best player in that tournament was k1Ng. And though the team only played one match after getting an unlucky draw and having to play the 2022 World Champions LOUD in their opening game, they looked much better than anyone was expecting. Despite falling out of the single-elimination bracket early, the general consensus was that the team looked solid.

To compare individual statistics between the two players, MaKo has more than twice the number of professional matches logged on Viper than k1Ng does. According to TheSpike.gg, in the past six months, MaKo has played Viper on 12 maps, with an average combat score of 235.4. In contrast, k1Ng only has five professional maps logged on Viper in the past six months, but has a higher average combat score of 246.8.

Both MaKo and k1Ng seem to be playing a similar role for their team. In the past, some teams have chosen to play Viper as more of a sentinel than a controller, letting the agent lurk in the background of the map. But both MaKo and k1Ng seem to play her in a more engaged style, which results in them often top fragging or at least going even with their KDA. K1Ng, in particular, has boasted high KDAs on the maps where he plays Viper, leading to this higher combat score.

You could argue that part of the reason k1Ng’s combat score is higher is simply that Gen.G’s roster doesn’t have the same duelist or fragging presence that DRX does. DRX’s Rb and BuZz are top-tier entry players, which means MaKo doesn’t have to do as much heavy lifting. Both Rb and BuZz have had moments where they’ve looked like two of the best Jett players in the world.

As Gen.G grows as a squad, there is hope that this sort of structure might come to their team as well.

Gen.G as an organization has been at the height of Korean esports, particularly in League of Legends. The organization also owns the Seoul Dynasty in the Overwatch League. After an attempt at a North American VCT roster, the team’s relocation to the Pacific league seems to be a good strategy.

In their first VCT Pacific match, Gen.G easily won 2-0 over Rex Regum Qeon, and the star of that match was undoubtedly Meteor, Gen.G’s duelist. The team looks more well-rounded already, though k1Ng still had a plus-12 KDA.

Becoming more well-rounded is certainly a good thing, and if anything, this will enable k1Ng to shine on Viper even more. If Gen.G continues to develop as a team, matchups between MaKo and k1Ng are going to be quite a show.