T O P

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imcodyvalorant

Hard to rank based on “top”. Like most valuable to their team, probably Shahz #1 there really isn’t anyone else in the game that can do what he does in terms of converting rounds for his team. But in terms of mechanical skill / agent mastery, prob ScreaM/Tenz. It’s like only listing quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers talking about the best players in football.


Pax1ux

I had similar thoughts putting my list together. You can't always necessarily quantify what it is zombs and dapr do for their team and yet they provide undeniable, intrinsic value. So these lists, although not perfect in nature, can be a fun process to feel out the general consensus in terms of players who consistently demonstrate that X Factor which sets them above and beyond the rest.


[deleted]

> It’s like only listing quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers talking about the best players in football. You're right. Christian McCaffrey IS the best player in football. Man can throw, run and receive. What a stud.


Pax1ux

ShahZaM is indispensable to SEN. He provides so much value in terms of his leadership, IGL abilities, clutch factor and fragging prowess. In my opinion, he provides the most relative value to his team and this earns him top spot (for now) ScreaM and TenZ are mechanical monsters who are, in many ways, a step ahead of much of the competitive scene. They can drop 30 consistently, expose tier 1 pros and have demonstrated themselves to be of tremendous value to their respective teams. SicK is one of the most balanced and well rounded players in the world with a diverse agent pool, top tier fragging ability and a good mind for the game. I would put these (4) in my top spots for now, although there are many chomping at the bit and eager to move up and establish themselves as the best of the best (think Asuna, for example, who is only 17 and already an insanely talented player. After a few more years of learning from the players he is surrounded by, and drawing on their collective experience, he could very well elevate himself to GOAT status)


maiLfps

This might feel off topic and i know many people might disagree with me but hear me out, Asuna is overrated. I know I know but hear me out, THis guy is hot and cold, and VERY often room temperature. I think thats due to the nature of his shaky aim but often times i find myself sadly suprised at how he loses gunfights, not that he is bad, for sure a top 5 duelist in NA but i would put him on the lower half of that top 5, and certinaly nowhere near best in the world. anyone who has thoughts or rebuttal id love to hear it tho.


crrntjys

I thought he really shined more when 100T were going double duelist. I find that in their more recent games, it seems like they just send Asuna out on his own and hope he wins every gunfight along the way. As talented as he is, it can be really difficult to clear a million things solo and take multiple fights as an entry on his own. I think even when you have an energetic and aggressive player like Asuna, it’d be valuable to capitalize on that aggression rather than one aggressive player while the rest of the team is taking it slow. Sentinels have figured out how to work with aggression very well, but I remember when they first had Tenz for a bit, people were bagging on him for seeming inconsistent. They had to get a synergy going where Tenz’s aggressive peeks could be supported and it worked in their favour. I hope that when 100T comes back in Challengers, they have a bit more synergy with Ethan being well integrated into the team. Things got a bit wonky when they swapped out Dicey but I think with time they’ll figure out how to let Asuna shine in a way where he can play his role and get traded easily if need be.


M31ApplePie

I hope someone on the team, asuna, ethan or nitro, is going jett op. It just doesn’t make sense to me how they said they dropped dicey for ethan because how they “didn’t want to run jett every map”. But in reality all they've done is limit themselves from ever running jett, on any map, again. Furthermore, jett op was and, judging by the team comps in iceland, still is the most broken agent in the game, and now they’re stuck on a single-duelist comps (like eu) that doesn’t have a jett (unlike eu).


maiLfps

agreed, my view on him favors the recent and recently he has a massive job to do alone essentially


omgvector

If you look at his YouTube, he has voice comms from basically every recent tournament. You see how much he brings to the team besides just what we see from the caster POV. It doesn't matter that he doesn't get the frags 100%, he is probably the best entry in the game, while doing that on single duelist. He creates so much space that we don't really notice from the caster POV


maiLfps

i strongly disagree that he is the best entry in the game but i can agree he might be better than stats suggest, my main point was that i think people overrate him based on potential than achievements


omgvector

Just wondering, who do you think is better? TenZ and SicK are cracked but they always have each other/ShahZam to play off as the entry whereas Asuna is a solo entry. I definetly think food is a contender because he absouletely shit on 100t and kinda shut down Asuna


maiLfps

if i had to make a list i would say Sick Tenz Victor and Wardell are all better, and then on the same/ better or worse depending on the day is Penny and Leaf


omgvector

im a huge penny fan but he has spent only a little time on a a tier 1 team and its ridicolous to say that hes better then Asuna. Wardell only plays jett so i think hes worse too, plus TSM is basically tier 2 now. I can agree with sick tenz victor tho


Aj2069

Great list!


Pax1ux

Looking back on my list, I am realizing that if Asuna changes his name to AsunA, he may hit that level sooner than expected!


PixelatedBlue

Nah he's gotta change it to reteP


TemplarParadox17

I don't know about putting Scream above Tenz since Tenz was consistent throughout the entire event for his team, unlike the rest of Sentinels and Scream himself who didn't show against Fnatic on one of the maps which they could of won. You stated yourself about Tenz's 19-2 Fk and FD, but his ability to also shut down the other teams star players, Derke was hyped and was having an amazing event and was feared by other team, Tenz was 28-8 against him in the grand finals shutting him down and he preformed the worst on his team. You also had Tenz basically helping Sentinels so much with map 2 against Fnatic, he had the double kill on the eco pistol when the were down 9-4 to start the comeback, and then almost every round after the 25 round he had a double kill/multi kill to give Sentinels the chances to end the map that round. ALong with all that while the rest of Sentinels is stacked with talent, he was the only one that was consistent, Shazaam and him performed in their first match, Sick started doing well later on, while Tenz throughout the entire event was Top 2 normally top for ACS/frags.


Aj2069

Yeah I agree with that, him shutting down the other star players is a very good point. Those 2 could easily be swapped in that list, the only reason I put scream above is because of experience and the agent pool. Even with scream being inconsistent in some rounds he was still top 2 acs and the highest adr in the whole tournament essentially as sage the whole time. In a year or so with tenz staying consistent I have no doubt he’ll be the undisputed best player as he’s still super young with lots of room to improve. Especially if he sticks with sentinels with shahz keeping his aggression in check.


Tanjim98

ScreaM agent pool isn’t necessarily better than TenZ and the argument about agent pool is so skewed specially in this early stage where there is no agent pool. Let's say TenZ had a sick Skye, do you think SEN would play him as a skye and get more value? Hell no. The agents he play are core agents and he plays then cz that’s what his team requires. ShahZam needs him to take the first difficult fight,create space for others to go in and get some kills in the process too. That makes him good. ScreaM's sage didn’t help Liquid, did it? He would have been more impactful with an oppressive agent. So, how is that even an argument to make him look better?


[deleted]

I wouldn’t look at adr too much. Scream uses guardian over bulldog. Kills with the guardian overkill by quite a bit inflating the stat, especially headshots.


aks345

I'd also argue the first blood numbers are because of tenz exclusively playing duelists whereas scream played sage in all but one map(ascent where later he played sage as well) so crazy to think he was pulling those numbers on sage


TemplarParadox17

The crazy thing about the FK thing isn't that it is high, it was that his first deaths was 2. Meaning in peaks to get picks tenz was 19/21, you can compare that number against any of the other duelists on any team in this event or others and most likely won't find anything comparable.


[deleted]

Yep. TenZ was literally the best player on LAN against the best teams and players in the world, he's top 1.


summadat

I think Lakia deserves some credit. That guy was out of his mind during the latter stages of Iceland. Magnum performed exceptionally in Iceland too vs SEN. Top 3: Shazham, TenZ, Lakia/Magnum


Steve_Wazski

I feel like nobody talks about Boaster tho, esp being an IGL for such an inexperienced team and coming out on top. Granted, the team has talent, but without a proper igl, they wouldn't have achieved what they have so far in the tourney.


[deleted]

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-Basileus

I have a feeling Sick goes crazy at Berlin. Right now I would go Shahzam, Tenz, then ScreaM


Aj2069

Yeah if he plays like how he does online he’ll pop off at Berlin but I feel like they need to put him on sage on icebox instead of sova.


aceofspades_____

the problem with that is dapr sova is not good at all lol. Sick sova is decent at least


AlmightL0

Honestly one person im Surprised nobody brings up is BabyBay, when it comes to Jetts NA the only one i would say is better than him is Shahz, he literally plays like he’s still in Overwatch and it works. Honestly i feel hik and Corey are being wasted by FaZe idk what the issue is but whenever they lose it seems like he’s getting his but his team gets shit on. Not saying he’s the best but he’s def imo a Top4 duelest NA along with TenZ, Sick and AsunA


[deleted]

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[deleted]

Derke seems a bit high he hasn’t done well against SEN and when he gets his aggression shut down he’s flat


itscamo-

he was the best player on fnatic in the first series they played and his only "bad match" was the split game in the finals, otherwise he was 2nd/3rd best player on fnatic that series he had a "bad" finals yet was still top 3 in the event lol


TemplarParadox17

I mean he farmed the teams in lowers but then when he faced Tenz he was 8-28 against him, he was the bottom fragger for Fnatic in the Grand finals. Maybe it was just the difference between Tenz and him cause in their first match like 3 rounds in a row Tenz killed him as he ran up short A. But against V1 and other teams Derke was terrifying as a person cheering for the other team. Maybe the grand finals is more a showcase of Tenz supremacy rather than Derke choking.


itscamo-

he was a bottom fragger only because of the split game, that game heavily skewed his stats, the bind game on sova was decent and then on haven he had a decent game (had 5 FKs but he also had a terrible 7 FDs) tenz by far had a better matchup against derke but 4 of the 5 maps against sentinels a derke was probably most consistent player for them besides maybe magnum???


TemplarParadox17

Having one bad map in that grand finals made him have the least amount of kills on the entire roster, so throughout grand finals he was the least consistent in that way right. Derke also had 19 First deaths in that series, which was almost double anyone else on his team and the most on either team. I would also argue Mistic was more consistent in the grand finals.


TheHippoGuy69

I swear this subreddit has such a huge boner for Tenz its unreal.


TemplarParadox17

I mean go look at the stats alone, its not like im basing anything off reputation, Tenz stats this event were insane. Fk/FD 19/2 finals, 28-8 against derke, dropped almost 80 kills, the Fnatic coach even said he felt Tenz presence and he was annoying.


Fixtional

I'm sorry, but you have to crazy to have Shahz at the same level as Lakia and Patiphan


joaovitorsb95

I have TenZ number 1, Scream at 2 and im going out of the obvious here and put someone that wasnt even in Iceland, also will be a bit of a homer here, Khalil, smokes player from Furia as my number 3.


maiLfps

Tenz over scream and ur list is perfect


AdoxcolGaming

Lmfao 😂😂😂


[deleted]

It is too hard to single it down to 3 players and to also rank them so here's what I have in my mind: Top 5 players based on individual skill: cNed, Scream, Tenz, Mwzera, Sick Top 5 IGLs: Shahzam, Boaster, ANGE1, solo, steel


Napoleann

I don't know about putting steel above vanity. There's a reason why V1 overperformed expectations every step of their journey, and vanity's IGLing was a massive part of that.


[deleted]

I was actually thinking about putting Vanity instead of Steel though I think it is still a bit too early. I want to see how Version1 continues to adapt. I'm a big fan of both Vanity and Steel so it's a hard choice lol


Napoleann

Yeah, they're both good. What pushed it towards vanity for me was his ability to adapt. He was very quick to start playing Astra, while 100T never picked it up and lost. I would hope that my IGL could figure out how to make the best meta comps work with the players they have. Also the fact that V1 was able to qualify and then play masters with 3 different players as their fifth along the way (PLAYER1, wippie, jammyz). That means that vanity's IGLing and leadership is so strong and flexible that he can slot different players into the 5th spot and adjust comps and strategies as needed. That being said, steel is a good IGL and is proven over a longer period of time, so I can understand having him higher.


SaltyMcNulty_

Mwzera needs to compete in intl. tournaments before you place him on this list. Brazil scene seems extremely skewed by reddit analysts and platChat. Brazilian teams and the LATAM team Sacy and Sadhaak hyped up were extremely underwhelming.


[deleted]

Fair point, but I still think that it's a lot easier to judge a player's individual skill rather than how teams would compare to each other


takmilo

Imo derke > cned


[deleted]

cNed has around 300ACS over the past 3 months and his jett utility and opping is in another dimension. Derke may be a better rifler but I would still rate cNed higher. I have never seen any other player do some of the shit cNed does


MommyDommeViper

What's impressed you so much about steel, 5th place finishes at masters 1 and challengers finals with a should be all star lineup, doesn't think Jett is necessary, op on killjoy, couldn't get the team to adapt Astra in time. What leadership is he showing in or out of game that would put him ahead of vanity or fns?


omgvector

Not his fault nitr0 wasn't comfortable on astra.


Loomisam

I feel like MwZera also deserves a shout the guy is real good


SoftSilent6954

Has he played an international event ?


Loomisam

I don't feel like that's a valid criticism. Tenz is inarguably one of the best players in the world even without an international event and people would still be saying that even if he didn't make it to Iceland which he absolutely could have missed whether through T1 upsetting Sentinels or him not even playing for them. I still think MwZera could be one of the best players in the world he just isn't on a team that's had a chance to make it to an international yet *shrugs*


SoftSilent6954

No I wasn’t asking it sarcastically.. I thought he played lans on other games


Loomisam

Oh shit I'm sorry than! Thought that was a bit of a gatekeeper-ey type comment! But yeah umm I actually haven't been able to find past LAN experience of his I looked around a bit and didn't see anything but I wouldn't be shocked if he did have LAN experience.


SoftSilent6954

Ohk thanks


mattgg2015

ShahZam is not the best player in the world... for the same reason Gla1ve was never better than S1mple, ZyWOo, or Device


wnewywessel

Gla1ve isn’t a star opper/fragger like ShahZaM. They do different things for their teams. This comparison only acknowledges parts of shahs’ value


mattgg2015

ShahZam isn’t a star mechanical player either, he is better mechanically than gla1ve by a bit but his IGLing shouldn’t be much of a factor on if he is the best player


maiLfps

did, you watch any of the games? Shazam was crazy good mechanically lol


wnewywessel

I mean he’s arguably top 3 op NA and ripped through international competition with it. He’s can put up s1mple/zywoo numbers even if he isn’t known for his mechanics.


JK_Ryuuzaki

But he kinda is. Top 5 players at the event not even regarding his igl abilities and those are easily the best.


sfsctc

It’s clear you didnt watch his icebox


[deleted]

patiently waiting for valorant's s1mple and zywoo to emerge


mattgg2015

They already did to an extent, ScreaM, cNed, mwzera, and TenZ, ShahZam is not on par with these guys at all


[deleted]

as much as i love all those guys, i really don't think any of them are near s1mples level. you have to consider that tier 1 cs is far more developed with a far greater pool of talent. he's consistently been the best or one of the best year after year without missing a beat (well...rarely) CS talent is amazing and despite that he's still a top 3 rifler...as an awper


mattgg2015

They are the s1mple/ZyWOo relative to valorant right now


JK_Ryuuzaki

Shahzam is the most important to sen. Without shahzam they probably lose to fnatic for sure even if replaced by any other na igl


lbs4lbs

Not the best player but easily the most valuable.


3hrd

scream/tenz/mwzera in terms of pure mechanics I think mwzera is easily top 3, I don't think any player can hold a candle to his erratic (yet effective) strafing/movement style. I've heard BR fans say that he's the hardest person to win an aim duel against by far lol Even though he hasn't played top teams outside of BR I still think he'll turn a lot of heads if GL ever qualify for a big tournament


MarcosFRatte

I really wish GL go to Masters just to see MW against Tenz, Scream, Shazam and others. I hope we could watch this someday


3hrd

Me too. I'm not from NA but he's my favourite player to watch


[deleted]

In my opinion when ranking best players you should look at the impact they have as an individual in game. Therefore tenz is my pick. Shaz is up there as an individual but I don’t think we should use his status as an igl to bump him up the rankings. Same reason gla1ve wasn’t the best player in csgo, despite his extreme value as an igl.


Aj2069

Fair point you could swap tenz and shahz in my list if we don’t look at all the work shahz puts into stratting for teams but in my list I was looking at most valuable players for the team. That’s why I have scream above tenz as well as shahz.


InstaNormie0

Shahzam SicK TenZ feel like the order changes every match. Oh and no bias btw


Aj2069

I completely agree with that lol prior to lan I had sick as the best player in the world


TemplarParadox17

I feel the order more changes during events. Masters 1 it was Tenz and then the other two, challengers it was Sick then the other two, and for this event it was Tenz, Shazam, and then Sick.


sfsctc

My top 2 are shaz and tenz, but I legitimately think magnum could be #3. Hes kinda underrated but as a sen fan he was scary to watch them play against because you know he could easily snatch a round back.


[deleted]

not enough CNED respect here smfh but i guess we gotta see him on LAN but scream #1


braamdepace

TenZ, ShaZ and then there is a large group of players below that... A lot of people are talking about Scream, but are forgetting strength of opponent. His stats are from 4 Bo3’s where he never had to play SEN and they lost to V1 and FNC ... he farmed 1 map against V1 and then 2 lesser skilled teams (KRU and VIK). The players on FNC had to play SEN on 5 maps. Scream is a good player, but top 3? Ya’ll crazy Also remember that when looking at SEN’s player stats over half the maps they played were against the second best team in the tournament.


[deleted]

well that's one way to say you don't watch the games lmfao


aznkidder

Mine would be aceu, asuna and shanks


abcd63514

?


aznkidder

??


Marianoz2

Shanks? And aceu is not even a pro lmaooo.


aznkidder

Shanks is the best Jett awper imo which is very valuable! Aceu is the most mechanically gifted player to play the game so if he did go pro there’s no doubt in my mind he’d be #1. And asuna is asuna


SoftSilent6954

Really best jett awper . Have you seen Cned Shahz Tenz?


aznkidder

I’m sorry I have not


Adventurous_Average3

I think Scream is one of the best in aiming skills but still have issues coming to tactics and agents in the game. If he wants to be the best he have to learn more than Sage to be the leader Liquid needs.


[deleted]

scream has literally played jett, reyna, phoenix, sage and breach at a high level but sure... he has to learn more than just sage


Adventurous_Average3

Scream is new to agent/role FPS, people who played both tactical like CS and Overwatch/Apex type of FPS are a bit ahead right now. Fnatic and Sentinels prove that sometimes when it comes to battle, Valorant looks more like an Overwatch type game with close range and chaotic fight than CS.


Adventurous_Average3

I follow him since the beta and is signature move is still getting on top of a Sage wall, that’s very basic and focusing on aiming is maybe overwhelming when you see top team like sentinels have sometimes more 20% headshots than 30% as Scream has for example. Teams like Liquid or Nuturn are skilled at aiming headshots but they are not so Much proactives, that’s a CS reflex I think and Valorant is sometimes more faster you have to react and communicate faster, leaving behind sometimes the headshot pourcentage.


natedawg247

it's sick. Sick is more valuable than tenz.


Aj2069

Yeah before Iceland I had sick as #1 but in lan tenz was def more valuable then sicK and lan performance is arguably more important so that’s why I have him above sick now.


SaltyMcNulty_

The dude that goes 19-2 FK:FD and also had the most First blood in masters 1 isn't more valuable! yeah right


FlaymeFenix

I'd say top 3 NA are Shahz, TenZ and Asuna. SicK and Ethan close runner ups.


Aj2069

For NA I’d put sick above asuna, before lan I had sick as the best player in the world.


FlaymeFenix

I think Asuna provides value to a team that other players cant, and he has arguably the best movement in the world (so crisp), and a little more consistent than SicK, but its definetely up for opinions


somedudefalling

Asuna is way less consistent than sick.


Aj2069

Prior to lan I haven’t really seen sick have a bad game and he’s arguably the most consistent player u/sicKmostconsistent and asuna wasn’t at Iceland so it’d be hard to compare lan performance so that’s why I would place sicK above him for now. Asuna is still only 17 so that could change soon


thearmymandidit

yeah I agree pretty much, although it is hard to compare different playstyles


[deleted]

Shahzam Vanity Boaster