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VCT EMEA League has finally kicked off. The year began with Valorant's biggest event yet, LOCK//IN, where all the franchised teams plus two Chinese teams were invited to go head-to-head in a single elimination bracket. EMEA had perhaps the best performance as a region in the event, with two teams advancing to the Playoffs: Fnatic and NAVI. Fnatic eventually won the event by defeating Brazil's very own superteam LOUD 3-2.
The VCT EMEA League will see its ten franchised teams compete against each other. The league will start with the Regular Season, which is the group stage where the top six teams will qualify for the Playoffs. The Playoffs will follow a double-elimination format, and the top four teams will qualify for Masters Tokyo.
EMEA currently holds the most trophies among all regions and is filled with a lot of talented players who have recently proven themselves at LOCK//IN. Below is a list of the top five players to look out for in the VCT EMEA League.
Note: This article is subjective and solely reflects the opinions of the writer.
Derke and four other players to keep an eye on at VCT EMEA League
1) Derke
Nikita "Derke" Sirmitev is an esports player from Finland who currently plays for Fnatic. He has mainly played the role of Duelist Jett and Raze.
Derke and his team were among the few that qualified for the first-ever VCT international LAN tournament. There, he proved himself to be one of the most fearsome Jett players in the world.
At LOCK//IN, Derke was able to live up to that reputation again as he would come out on top of every one of the series. In the Grand Finals of LOCK//IN, Derke had a total of 91 kills making him one of the top players on the scoreboard regarding kills.
2) keloqz
Cista "keloqz" Wassim is a French esports player who currently plays for Team Heretics. He has mainly filled the role of a Duelist for his team but has also played as the Sentinel Chamber in the past.
keloqz's journey took a turn for good when he joined G2 Esports in 2021. He was able to qualify for an international LAN event in Berlin and made one of the most explosive debuts in VCT.
At LOCK//IN, Team Heretics were eliminated in their first match itself but keloqz stood out with his impressive performance. In the first map of Pearl itself, keloqz was able to make some insane plays for his team. One of his best moments was in round 8 when he got 4 kills and single-handedly shut down Evil Geniuses' intelligent play.
3) ScreaM
Adil "ScreaM" Benrlitom is an esports player from Belgium who plays for Karmine Corp. He currently fills the role of an Initiator for his team but has also played the role of a Duelist in the past.
ScreaM is perhaps one of the most veteran presences in the Valorant esports scene. Many Counter-Strike fans were excited about his switch to Valorant and so far, ScreaM has delivered.
After making the switch to Karmine Corp from Team Liquid, ScreaM, and his team were able to perform decently at LOCK//IN. ScreaM's best moment was when he got a 3k with a Guardian against FPX (FunPlus Phoenix) in Haven and made it look effortless. He is easily one of the most dangerous players in the EMEA scene.
4) Twisten
Karel "Twisten" Asenbrener is an esports player from the Czech Republic. He has mostly fulfilled the role of a Duelist but has also played as the Initiator KAY/O and the Sentinel Chamber in the past.
Twisten joined Team Vitality in November 2022 during franchising. The roster consisted of many talented players, most notably the IGL (In-game Leader) who was the World Champion, BONECOLD. The team has proven to perform well in the EMEA region but their real test was during VCT LOCK//IN.
At LOCK//IN, Team Vitality had a solid performance, managing to defeat Global Esports (GE) in their opening match. Twisten played a crucial role in the match, emerging as the top fragger on the scoreboard with 60 kills. His best moment was perhaps the 4k he got in Pearl against GE with his Operator.
5) QutionerX
Dogukan "QutionerX" Dural is an esports player from Turkey who plays for BBL Esports. He has mainly played the role of a Duelist but has also played the Sentinel Chamber when needed.
QutionerX joined BBL Esports in December 2021. The team performed well regionally but their real test was during VCT LOCK//IN. QutionerX and his team went up against DRX. Unfortunately, they lost the BO3 (Best of Three) series by 2-1.
QutionerX had a great showing at the event. He was amongst the top players on the scoreboard. He was also one of the few players that played Yoru in the entire event.
