The storylines of the VALORANT Champions Tour in 2022 were breathtaking. From clutch 1-vs-1s to game-winning ultimates, VALORANT fans had hours upon hours of professional matches to soak up this past year.
As we prepare for a franchised VCT as well as another extremely competitive season of Game Changers in 2023, we take a look back at all of the memories made in 2022.
We were here for all of the ups and downs of professional VALORANT this year. And after taking it all in, here are our top five players of 2022.
5) MaKo
When you think of the Korean powerhouse VALORANT team DRX, MaKo might not be the first name that comes to mind. With flashy players like Rb and BuZz, who fly around maps effortlessly as duelists and always top frag for their team, how can a Viper player who lurks in the background be the best on the team?
MaKo was a part of the original Vision Strikers roster back in 2021, and made the transition as they became DRX.
Truthfully, MaKo was the best Viper player in the world in 2022. Though some of his individual plays were nearly as flashy as his teammates’, it was the moments that set his team up for success that stand out in our minds as some of the top strategic plays of the last year.
MaKo has an incredible understanding of Viper’s utility and how to use it effectively. Though Viper is an agent known for having a Sentinel-like playstyle, MaKo seems to have mastered both lurking in the shadows and being a leading presence for executing attacks.
Another strength MaKo brought to the DRX roster in 2022 was his mental fortitude. There were several moments on the international VCT stage where he clutched up, looking cool, calm, and collected.
In 2023, MaKo will likely continue to be one of the most consistent players in the Pacific region. DRX secured what was likely an easy and expected franchising spot in the Pacific league, and MaKo is still signed with the team after his stellar performance in 2022.
4) sonder
If we had to choose one player who gets the title of “Best LANimal of 2022,” it definitely goes to sonder.
Sonder and her teammates on Shopify Rebellion were well-known figures in the VCT Game Changers scene going into 2022. And over the course of the last year, they became known as the team that would perpetually fall second to Cloud9 White, who won every single Game Changers title in North America.
But Shopify stepped up at the best possible moment, and part of that incredible performance was because of sonder, who had been firing on all cylinders the entire tournament.
Shopify were set to go against Cloud9 White again at the first ever international VCT Game Changers championship in Berlin at the end of 2022. Both teams had fallen to the lower bracket, and suddenly the matchup seen over and over in North America was more important than ever.
And Shopify stepped up.
Though the team eventually fell to G2 Gozen in the Game Changers finals, sonder proved she is one of the best VALORANT players in the world on LAN. She is a strong player on online servers as well, but she surprised VALORANT fans all over the world with her performance this year.
3) Mary
Mary is the 16-year-old VALORANT prodigy who rose to prominence with her stellar performance in VCT Game Changers with EMEA’s G2 Gozen.
Mary, who is originally from Bahrain, joined the Germany-based team after their longtime leader zAAz retired midway through 2022. ZAAz was a 31-year-old veteran whose departure gave Mary her chance to step up.
Mary not only came into the highly competitive Game Changers scene halfway through the already intense season for G2, but also stepped up to the plate at only sixteen, the minimum age required to even play in VCT. She showed her excellence on Chamber, keeping her composure and dominating with clean shots and sneaky teleports.
She was also one of the key components in G2’s reverse sweep to take the trophy out from underneath Shopify’s feet in the final Game Changers championship match.
Mary’s 2022 ended with her standing on stage in Berlin holding the first-ever Game Changers Championship trophy. She is still signed with G2 Gozen for 2023 and also streams regularly on Twitch.
2) aspas
Aspas was the duelist player for 2022 VCT Champions LOUD. LOUD were the heart of the Brazilian VALORANT scene this year. With a passionate fanbase and skilled players to back up that enthusiasm, once they overcame North America’s OpTic in the VCT final, their place in history was secured.
Aspas came on to the stage each match in Berlin with a new dog plushie, symbolic of the team’s victories that lead them to taking the overall title.
He plays with an aggressive, yet calculated style, and excels on duelists. He is formidable at long and close range alike, and though he does often fall to his opponents, he sets his teammates up for trades and still makes a big impact every time he is in a server.
While some members of the LOUD roster have departed ahead of 2023, most notably initiator player Sacy signing with Sentinels, aspas will stay put.
1) yay
As far as individual performances go in 2022, yay has to make the top of our list. And though OpTic’s best part of last season was in the early months of the year, some of those moments are just too good to be forgotten as we recap the VCT season.
Though OpTic finished a disappointing second to their longtime rivals LOUD at the conclusion on the 2022 VCT, the newfound pressure the team faced in the latter half of the year wasn’t due to them getting worse, but the teams around them getting better. Even within North America, OpTic started to become challenged by other highly competitive teams in their own region who seemed to have adopted some of their highly successful playstyle.
A playstyle that largely revolved around giving yay the time and space to do his magic, whether on Chamber or Jett.
Before Chamber’s first round of notable nerfs, yay was unstoppable on the agent. And yay still mostly played Chamber even as the agent started to fall from his dominance. This strategy worked for OpTic, and at the conclusion of the 2022 VCT season, yay was one of, if not the hottest VALORANT players on the market after OpTic didn’t receive a franchising spot.
Yay signed with Cloud9’s VALORANT team in October of last year. He will be playing in 2023 with Cloud9, and fans hope for another excellent year of gameplay as yay will have to navigate the new meta that looks to be building.
