Thinking Man’s Valorant Ranks 10 Best Players At VCT Masters Madrid

TMV, a popular Valorant content creator, ranked the top ten players participating in VCT Masters Madrid, which is happening in a week. The list consisted of familiar faces but also a few bold predictions.

Thinking Man’s Valorant has over 90,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel, and he created a list of players during a live stream. Let’s analyze who these players are and how they did in their respective regions to qualify for Madrid.

Marshall “n4rrate” Massey (Karmine Corp)

N4rrate, the star Duelist for Karmine Corp, was imported from the United States of America to compete in the European region. The former Mad Lions member had not played in the VCT until Kickoff, and boy, did he defy all expectations.

Along with three other rookies on the roster, n4rrate won the EMEA Kickoff with Karmine Corp, taking down FUT and Fnatic on their road to glory. His performance did not seem like a fluke, as he was the second-highest-rated player in the tournament. 

Massey displayed masterclass performances on Raze, Gekko, and Fade, showing role flexibility. TMV boldly predicted that this young prospect would be the best player in the Madrid lineup.

Rating at VCT EMEA Kickoff: 2nd place

Felipe “Less” Basso (LOUD)

At only 19 years of age, LOUD’s Less is no stranger to lifting trophies and competing at Tier 1. He will return to Valorant’s most prominent stage after an impeccable performance at the Americas Kickoff, helping the Brazilian team punch tickets to the first international Valorant event of 2024.

The Controller has only played Viper throughout the entire tournament – not a single different Agent. Despite being placed in a more supportive role in the team, Less was not shy in the fragging department. 

He displayed some of the best Valorant, often being the top-fragger of the team despite the burden of playing smokes and utility. He was tied with zekken as the second-highest-rated player in the event and is not even a Duelist.

Ranking at VCT Americas Kickoff: 2nd place, tied with zekken

Zachary “zekken” Patrone (Sentinels)

After 900+ days of missing out on international events, the Sentinels have finally qualified for their first VCT event in a long time. They were able to achieve this feat thanks to their 18-year-old prodigy, zekken.

The Duelist has been playing out of his mind and, frankly, bailed the Sentinels out of numerous situations that could have resulted in an early elimination from Kickoff. During their Group Stage run, the boys in red were not looking too hot in the early stages of the tournament, but zekken dragged the team through the matches against 100 Thieves, Leviatan, and MIBR.

His rating slightly fell off in the later stages of the tournament but was still enough to help the team qualify for Masters and finish as the second highest-rated player, side-by-side with Less.

Ranking at VCT Americas Kickoff: 2nd place, tied with Less

Ilya “something” Petrov (Paper Rex)

Despite only making his VCT debut last year, something has already become one of the most-known players for his robotic aim. The Russian import was placed on new grounds after relocating to Asia to join Paper Rex and has already fit into the team like family.

After being one step away from lifting the Champions trophy in 2023, something is back and looking as sharp as ever in his first Valorant event of the year. The 22-year-old was easily Paper Rex’s top performer.

Though Paper Rex was not the victor of the Pacific Kickoff, the new roster looks to regroup and integrate their newest member and hopefully perform well in Spain with something’s amazing form. 

Ranking at VCT Pacific Kickoff: 6th place

Zheng “ZmjKK” Yongkang (EDward Gaming)

ZmjKK, popularly known as KangKang, made a name for himself internationally and gained millions of worldwide fans in the process. It’d be a crime for him not to make it to Masters, and he deservedly got in the list of players to watch. 

EDward Gaming bumped into some trouble in their Playoff qualification match against Wolves Esports. The favorites were down a hefty amount of rounds in the third map, but KangKang, being the beast he is, began popping off and carried his team to the finish line. 

The star player continued his dominance throughout the Playoffs, helping EDG win the entire Kickoff event. On his signature KAY/O, Jett, and Raze, KangKang posted the highest Average Combat Score stat among all players in the tournament.

Ranking at VCT China Kickoff: 1st place

Dominykas “MiniBoo” Lukaševičius (Team Heretics)

Lithuanian Duelist, MiniBoo, is the younger sibling of the “Boo brothers.” Though Team Heretics could lift the EMEA Kickoff trophy, MiniBoo and the team still completed the main objective, which was qualification for Masters Madrid.

Despite only being 18 years old, MiniBoo took on the responsibilities of the Duelist role and was an integral part of the team’s success. He was the highest-rated player in Heretics, posting insane numbers on his Neon, Yoru, and Raze.

MiniBoo had been hustling through the lower tiers of professional Valorant since 2021, but his efforts had not paid off. That is until Team Heretics finally qualified for their first international tournament. 

Ranking at VCT EMEA Kickoff: 3rd place

Kim “t3xture” Na-ra (Gen.G Esports)

The South Korean Duelist had been in the Valorant scene since 2021, notably playing for Global Esports. Unfortunately, he had little to no success on the international roster. T3xture was finally given an opportunity to step in for Gen.G Esports. 

Though the Gen.G roster seemed solid on paper, they were only a shadow of their bigger brothers, DRX. However, t3xture proved to be the perfect addition to the team, putting on monstrous numbers as the team’s Jett and Raze player. 

The 24-year-old posted the seventh-highest rating in the tournament, which isn’t too high, but played 429 rounds, three times as many rounds as the players above him. Gen.G had the most challenging route, having to go through the Play-ins, but t3xture maintained an incredible rating, showing extreme levels of consistency.

Ranking at VCT Pacific Kickoff: 7th place

Martin “marteen” Pátek (Karmine Corp)

TMV included another player from the uprising Karmine Corp roster, another VCT rookie in the form of marteen. Just a year ago, the 19-year-old was playing in B to C-Tier tournaments with GMT Esports. Surely, he himself wouldn’t have thought he would be flying to Madrid in 2024.

The Czech player acted as Karmine Corp’s main Duelist, sharing the role with n4rrate. He displayed superb showings on Yoru, Raze, and Jett, boasting one of the highest First Blood percentages in the event. 

Fearlessly, marteen displayed one of his best performances in the qualification series against Fnatic. In the second game of the series, marteen went 23/10/7 on Yoru, demolishing and eliminating the World Champions from the Kickoff event.

Ranking at VCT EMEA Kickoff: 7th place

Wan “CHICHOO” Shunzhi (EDward Gaming)

CHICHOO is EDward Gaming’s Controller player, mainly playing Brimstone, Viper, and Cypher. Though he doesn’t post the highest numbers, he’s a vital asset to the team, the backbone. 

The 20-year-old received an award for being the 12th best Asian player from VALO2ASIA, and in the Chinese Kickoff, he displayed why he earned it. He was incredibly clutch and showed up when the team needed him the most.

Though he will be a shadow of EDG’s star player, ZmjKK, we’re bound to see some impact from CHICHOO, though it may be silent.  

Ranking at VCT China Kickoff: 19th place

Jason “f0rsakeN” Susanto (Paper Rex)

To close the list, we have one of the most well-known Asian players in Valorant, f0rsaken. During the start of his Valorant career, the Indonesian did not take much time to make a name for himself globally playing Jett.

However, he had to pave the way for his teammates, Wang “Jinggg” Jing Jie and Ilya “something” Petrov, adjusting his roles to let them play on Duelists. Despite changing roles and becoming a flex, viewers cannot undermine the impact f0rsaken can have in a game.

Jason did not perform at an expected level in the Pacific Kickoff, but we can attribute that to being rusty after a long break. His aim is still as sharp as ever, and you can always count on him when needed. 

Ranking at VCT Pacific Kickoff: 28th place

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