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Riot Games’ latest IP Valorant has had one of the most successful closed beta launches in history. It’s popularity blew up so much that within just a few weeks it started breaking Twitch stream records, and some professional gaming orgs started investing in official rosters even before the game got a worldwide launch.
So it’s not all that surprising why this tactical, first-person shooter was attracting so many players from a variety of shooting genres, most of whom were professionals in previous games like CS: GO and Overwatch.
Now, with the closed beta finally over and the full release right around the corner, let’s take a look at some of the best players to have touched the game so far:
1. Tyson ‘TenZ’ Ngo
Not only was Tyson ‘TenZ’ Ngo (a former Cloud9 CS: GO star) one of the first professionals to have decided to permanently move to Valorant but he was also the first player to have reached the highest rank of Valorant in North America.
After having a long and illustrious career in CS: GO Tenz finally decided on the fact that the shooter from Valve is not as exciting to him as it once used to be.
In an interview he also goes onto say that:
“I've decided to go pro [in Valorant] because when I was playing the beta, I realized I haven't had as much fun as I was having in a long time. Although it might be seen as risky to switch games, I feel that the future of this game is very bright. I will no longer be playing CS: GO while I am playing Valorant professionally.”
TenZ is notorious for his pinpoint accuracy and in-game strats. All the skills that he has picked up on CS: GO is helping him massively while playing Valorant. And, he has racked up a series of insane highlight clips for fans to dole over.
2. Braxton “Swag” Pierce
Braxton Pierce, also known as Brax or Swag, was hailed as an upcoming CS: GO prodigy when he was only 15-years old. However, his career was cut short when he and his teammate were caught in a match-fixing scam, and Valve brought down a 5-year ban hammer on him.
Valorant is now giving him a second shot at a professional career, as even before the closed beta was released, he was drafted up by T1 in their official roster.
3. Adil “ScreaM” Benrlitom
In the CS: GO competitive scene, ScreaM was hailed by many as a ‘one-tap’ god. So when the 25-year old finally decided to start a new chapter in Riot Games’ Valorant, many expected the same level performance from him, and needless to say, ScreaM delivered.
One of Valorant’s most attractive qualities that appealed to ScreaM was how much more fun and satisfying it was to kill an enemy . However, unlike Tenz, ScreamM's decision to join the Valorant pro scene was not made in a heartbeat. He first invested a lot of hours in the game before arriving at a decision.
In the recent Fnatic Proving Grounds: Valorant Open tournament, ScreaM led Team Prodigy to victory, which consisted of players like Mixwell, Dafran, KingMezii, and Shaiko.
4. Daniel “dafran” Francesca
Once an Overwatch star, turned full-time streamer, Dafran is now pursuing a professional career in Valorant and is all set to make a name for himself in this latest shooter. However, in a recent turn of events, he has indeed been making a name for himself in the game, but for all the wrong reasons.
Dafran is quite notorious for his at-times toxic and controversial nature. And in the Solary Cup tournament, he was penalized and was banned for a lifetime from all future Solary competitions due to a toxic outburst.
But the recent controversies will not stop him from having a spot on our list, as even with all the flaming and toxicity, we still feel that Dafran is one of the very best to have touched the game. He even has a ‘Valorant’ rank to prove our point.
5. Jay ‘Sinatraa’ Won
2019, had been a very successful career for Sinatraa in the Pro Overwatch League so his decision to join the Sentinels roster for Valorant came as quite a shock to many.
However, for Sentinels he is an invaluable addition to the squad, as he has some insane mechanics at his disposal, which has made him one of the best fraggers in Valorant.
