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Valorant Champions Tour's official circuit came to a close after Champions 2023's conclusion on August 26. This year saw multiple changes in the game's esports scene, with the major one being the separation of tier one and tier two teams with the franchising system. Teams that were franchised got the opportunity to earn a direct slot for international events.
The year started off with LOCK//IN, which saw all these franchised teams and some Chinese teams go head-to-head against each other. They later went on to play in their regional leagues in an attempt to qualify for Masters Tokyo. Finally, the teams that didn't make it to Champions went through the LCQ (Last Chance Qualifiers) to get into the final event of the year.
Throughout the season, many players had their moment of greatness, which would end up being the key factor towards having a successful run in a tournament or even winning the trophy. Below is a list of 10 such Valorant players who were ranked the highest in VCT 2023.
Note: The following data has been procured from Willminder.
Leo, something, and eight other Valorant players who performed well in VCT 2023
1) Leo
Leo "Leo" Jannesson is an esports player from Sweden who plays for Fnatic. Having joined EMEA superteam in October 2022, Leo fulfilled the role of an Initiator for his team.
While there were certain doubts about the roster going into Valorant's LOCK//IN event, the team definitely proved everyone wrong by winning it. They also went on to win Masters Tokyo, making them the only team to win two international events back to back. Leo was amongst the top players in both events, ending with an average rating of 1.23 across all VCT events.
2) Alfajer
Emir "Alfajer" Ali Beder is a Turkish esports player who plays for Fnatic. He has played multiple roles for his team in the past but has settled toward playing the role of a Sentinel in 2023.
Alfajer is easily among the best players in the world. He had already proved himself in the previous iterations of their Valorant roster and was able to perform even better coming into 2023. He ended up with an average rating of 1.20 across all VCT events.
3) aspas
Erick "aspas" Santos is a Brazilian esports player who plays for LOUD. He has mainly fulfilled the role of the primary Duelist for his team. Having won Valorant Champions 2022, LOUD came into this year as the team to be feared.
A big contributor to their success in 2022, aspas' ability to constantly get first blood and win the early duels helped his team a lot. 2023 was no different, as he absolutely crushed his competition and ended with an average rating of 1.17 across all VCT events.
4) Less
Felipe "Less" de Loyola Basso is a Brazilian esports player who also plays for team LOUD. He mainly fills in the role of a Sentinel but has also played as Viper when needed.
Less was another contributor to LOUD's success the previous year. In 2023, he was more exceptional as even during LOUD's lowest points, Less would be the one to carry and confidently win out duels, which allowed his team to be in comfortable situations. He had an average rating of 1.16 throughout the VCT events.
5) Sayf
Saif "Sayf" Jibraeel is a Swedish esports player who primarily plays as Duelists Jett and Raze for Team Liquid. However, he has also filled in as the Initiator, Breach when required.
Team Liquid's year started out pretty roughly with the early elimination in LOCK//IN against the Pacific Valorant squad, Team Secret. However, they were able to pick themselves back up during the EMEA League, eventually winning it.
They became among the only teams to ever defeat the Fnatic roster. Throughout the year, Sayf grew more and more as a Duelist and had some incredible moments. He ended with an average rating of 1.16 across all VCT events.
6) kiNgg
Francisco "kiNgg" Aravena is an esports player from Chile who plays for the LATAM team, Leviatán. He has played multiple roles for his teams, ranging from a Controller to Initiator, and even the Duelist, Raze in the past. He is also the IGL (In-game Leader) of the team.
Being amongst the best teams last year, Leviatán came in with an incredible roster for 2023 and had a decent showing during the Americas League. However, they weren't able to qualify for any international event.
One player who was always consistent and found value for the team was kiNgg. He had an ACS (Average Combat Score) of 219.4 in the league and ended with an average rating of 1.16 across all the VCT events.
7) something
Ilya "something" Petrov is a Russian esports player who plays for Paper Rex. He mainly fulfills the role of a Primary Duelist for his team and is among the only players to use Reyna in an international event.
something exploded onto the game's esports scene, displaying incredible mechanical skill. Joining an unsteady Valorant team like Paper Rex pushed his potential even further. He was the best player in the VCT Pacific League and also had an incredible performance in Champions 2023. Thanks to these outings, something ended up with an average rating of 1.16 across all VCT events.
8) MaKo
Myeongkwan "MaKo" Kim is a South Korean esports player who plays for DRX. mostly playing as the Controller Agent for his team.
MaKo has always been the anchor for DRX. He is one of their most consistent players and has always been able to clutch out rounds for his team. While DRX had a great performance in 2023, MaKo certainly pushed himself amongst the top players in the world. He ended up with an average rating of 1.15 across all VCT events.
9) Chronicle
Timofey "Chronicle" Khromov is a Russian esports player who plays for Fnatic. He has fulfilled the role of an Initiator for his team but has also played as the Controller, Viper when called for.
Chronicle was amongst the top players in 2021 and after joining Fnatic, he pushed himself to be one of the greatest Valorant players of all time. He is also the only player with three international trophies in Valorant.
Chronicle is one of the most consistent players who always finds a lot of value with utility and can gift rounds to his team with his individual skill. He had an average rating of 1.15 across all VCT events.
10) Derke
Nikita "Derke" Sirmitev is an esports player from Finland who plays for Fnatic. He is the primary Duelist, who plays Jett or Raze for most matches.
With an ACS of 268.6, Derke was not only one of the best players in 2023, but was also the top player in the VCT EMEA League. With two trophies and a top-four finish in Valorant Champions 2023, Derke was monstrous in all the international Valorant competitions, ending with an average rating of 1.14 across all VCT events.
