The VALORANT stars of today and tomorrow emerged during the first VCT season of the partnership era, shining a bright light on a game still in its infancy via absurd numbers and magical highlights. With the first season now complete, it’s time to look ahead to next year.
During the past season, these players proved their worth in both domestic and international competition, and both regular season matches and decisive playoff showdowns. And it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the players who won MVP trophies last year are the players to watch next year.
Here are the best VALORANT players in the world heading into the VCT 2024 season.
Demon1
From the best-kept secret to arguably the best player in the world, Max “Demon1” Mazanov proved to be the ultimate difference maker for Evil Geniuses. After a slow start for EG in VCT Americas, Demon1 was inserted into the starting lineup, and proved to be the catalyst that ignited a run through playoffs, to the finals of Masters Tokyo, and finally to the world championship at Champions 2023.
Demon1 is as mechanically gifted as he is relentless, and might be the most deadly and terrifying player in the world when he’s got Jett’s knives active. But whether it’s Jett’s knives, a rifle, an Operator, or just a Sheriff, there’s nothing he can’t use to get a back-breaking multikill at the perfect time. And he can hop on the controller role too.
Something
On the opposite side of the world, there’s another prolific duelist who joined the season halfway through, instantly elevated his team, captivated an audience, and took home both team and individual hardware. After dominating Japan, Russian star Ilya “something” Petrov joined Paper Rex last year and instantly made an impact.
Like Demon1, something is a superb Jett player, but can also flex his skills on both Reyna and Breach. His ability to play Reyna so well single-handedly raised the agent’s standing within the meta. And following the Champions grand finals and the news of impending Jett nerfs, something told Dot Esports he’s looking to expand his agent pool even more going into next year.
Alfajer
While only turning 18, Emir “Alfajer” Beder managed to stand out on a Fnatic team featuring the likes of Leo, Chronicle, Boaster, and Derke, which is by no means an easy feat. For his efforts, he took home the MVP award for VCT EMEA 2023, and he certainly proved his value throughout the season.
Alfajer claimed the best sentinel player award as well, establishing himself as a defensive juggernaut that offered no safe entry onto any site where both he and his utility were waiting. Whether he was on Killjoy or Cypher, even players who managed to get past his setups struggled to contend with his rifle.
Aspas
After two seasons with LOUD, and both a world championship and an Americas MVP to his name, Erick “aspas” Santos has joined Leviatán heading into the 2024 season. And while the teammates and jersey may be new to him, crushing the competition isn’t, and there’s no sign that that’s going to change next year.
LOUD’s 2023 season may ended short of a world championship repeat, but that was no fault of aspas who was his typically electric self on Jett and Raze. And in just his first event with Leviatán at SUPERDOME, he showcased the same ridiculous amount of dominance and mechanical excellence.
Published: Dec 17, 2023 10:56 am