The Top 5 VALORANT Players in 2021

Valorant got off to a roaring start in 2021, and these players turned Riot’s game into a fully-fledged esport.

Valorant’s surprise drop in 2020 took both the casual and competitive gaming worlds by storm. Riot finally posed a threat to Valve’s monopoly in the tactical shooter market, and the creation of a competitive scene was a matter of when rather than if. 2021 was the introductory year for Valorant esports, with Riot hosting a massive international circuit for its newest game. While dozens of players emerged as rising stars, a few truly stole the show during the game’s first act.

These are the five top Valorant players of 2021.

The top five Valorant players of 2021 ranked

We’ve ranked the top five best players in the Valorant esports scene throughout 2021 based on their individual play, team accomplishments, and performance in make-or-break moments.

5. ScreaM, the headshot machine

Placing number five on the list is Adil “ScreaM” Benrlitom. The former CSGO star was crowned the headshot king due to his precision. His skills transferred to Valorant, where he posted a 32% headshot rate. In Valorant, ScreaM met up with fellow CS veteran Elias “Jamppi” Olkkonen as well as his own brother Nabil “Nivera” Benrlitom. At events, the team placed fourth at Masters 2 Reykjavík and fourth at VCT Champions thanks to ScreaM.

4. Fnatic’s hard carry Derke

Placing fourth on the list is Nikita “Derke” Sirmitev. Derke also started out as a CSGO player, but unlike ScreaM, he never reached his full potential in the game. However, he was quickly picked up by Fnatic’s Valorant roster. During his trial for the team, the Finnish player dropped over 40 kills and there were no questions in signing him after that. In each international tournament he’s played in, Derke has been the key to his team’s success. He scored an insane stat line at Valorant Champions with the highest first kills per round at .27, most kills per round with .97, and best average combat score at 278.1.

3. Patron saint of aim TenZ

In third is the prodigy player himself, Tyson “TenZ” Ngo. TenZ’s career started out in CSGO where he was known for having top-tier aim, but was unable to transfer that into his games. When Valorant came around, he switched for the endless potential the game had. While he started off on Cloud9, he switched to Sentinels following the investigation and subsequent suspension of Jay “sinatraa” Won by Riot Games. He led the team to qualify for and ultimately win Masters 2 Reykjavík. While he continues to dominate the NA region, Sentinels and TenZ have struggled internationally in Champions, keeping him at the mid point of the best Valorant players of 2021.

2. yay, Team Envy’s X-factor

Next up in second place is Jaccob “yay” Whiteaker. The star OPer started off in Andbox but was signed to Team Envy a month before Stage 3. At that event, he posted the second-highest average combat score with 280.2 and ADR of 176.9 as well as having the highest KD ratio in the entire event at 1.44. In Envy’s NA brawl against Sentinels, yay was a key component in why Envy was able to take down the reigning champion from Masters 2. It is important to note, as well, that he headlined Masters 3 with 51 opening kills, the most in the entire tournament, despite not playing the most rounds out of all players.

1. heat is the king of Brazil

In first place is the youngster of Keyd Stars, Olavo “heat” Marcelo. At only 18 years old, he has single-handedly carried his team at each international event it competed in. At Valorant Champions, he had the highest kills per round  at .97 and the highest headshot ratio of 38%) His stats in Masters 3 were similar with him posting the highest average combat score of 280.3 and highest rate of first kills per round. Despite his team exiting early in both events, heat proved that he is the best in the world at scoring frags at the top level.