Top five Controller players in Valorant heading into 2023

2022 might have been dominated by Chamber, but at least we didn’t experience the Astra/ Viper meta at the biggest international events.

With Astra and Viper not dominating the Controller meta anymore, we got a chance of making an objective list this time around. As we mentioned in our top five Sentinel players article, the criteria are simple. At least 80 rounds on Controller agents, participating in the last two international events and any resemblance of success at them.

Honorable mentions: Mindfreak, Boaster

05. Sean “Bang” Bezerra

Controller players have a hard time getting their achievements acknowledged, but we are here for you Bang. 100 Thieves missed Masters Copenhagen, haven’t come close to winning North America, and bombed out in groups at Valorant Champions. But while everything of that was happening, this guy was playing Controllers on a world-class level. Apart from the clutch time gems we got from Derrek “Derrek” Ha, Bang was the biggest reason 100 Thieves won the NA LCQ. An average ACS of 212 throughout 525 rounds on Controller agents, and dropping 35 kills at Champions 2022. Keep in mind, most of the controllers on teams making international events don’t come close to 190 ACS. North America was the most competitive region in Valorant in 2022 and considering Bang was bested only by the number one spot on our list, he deserves to be here.

04. Dmitry “SUYGETSU” Ilyushin

It might surprise you to see this guy again on a top-five list, but he is definitely deserving. Although he implemented Viper as a Sentinel alongside the Controllers Kyrylo “ANGE1” Karasov played, the stats don’t lie. 420 rounds on Viper with a 212 ACS, a Masters Copenhagen title, and a fourth-place finish at Valorant Champions 2022. FPX were the best-performing EMEA team in 2022 and Suygetsu was a big part of it. His placement on both lists is hurt by the fact that he is splitting duty with his teammates, but when whatever he is on, he is performing. Despite only playing Viper, considering he was the second-best performer on the agent at the last two international events and how impactful she can be, he deserves a spot on this list.

03. Kim “MaKo” Myeong-gwan

On the Viper topic, here is the best performing Viper in the world. An average ACS of 208 with 800 rounds split up on four controller agents, displays his brilliance and versatility. Elite performance on a larger sample size against better teams and players puts him third on our list. With a bit more luck when the brackets were made, DRX could have achieved so much more in 2022. They finished third at Valorant Champions 2022 and tied for fifth at both Masters in Copenhagen and Reykjavik. They faced OpTic Gaming, who would go on to win the event,  in the second round of the playoffs at Masters Reykjavik. The same happened at the Masters Copenhagen and they faced the eventual winners, FPX, in the lower bracket. At Champions 2022, MaKo and DRX were five rounds away from a reverse sweep of OpTic that would send them to the Grand Finals against LOUD.

02. Bryan “pancada” Luna

Being the best Omen in the world and winning Valorant Champions 2022 is enough to merit a spot on our list. Just like MaKo, he also was performing evenly across all Controller agents. Dropping a 210 ACS average across all his agents on top of his astonishing 1,35 KD on Omen. This guy fragged like a beast on Controllers and earned loads of assists on Omen through immaculate smoke and blind usages. LOUD dominated 2022 at a level never seen before, losing less than 10 maps the entire year! And most of those were against Optic, who also had an insane year. Pancada is a winner, he frags at an elite level and is the second-best Controller in the world according to us.

01. Jimmy ”Marved” Nguyen

Unfortunately for pancada and Bang, Jimso exists. His heroics at the Masters in Reykjavik put his name in contention for the top spot, and he proved his worth for the remainder of the year. Statistically, he is the best performing Astra and Brimstone in the world by such a long shot that it doesn’t even matter that Pujan “FNS” Mehta plays Viper. 210 ACS average on 725 rounds with Controller agents is insane to think of. Just like Yay, he gets rewarded for huge sample size, three top-three finishes at international events this year, winning Masters Reykjavik and so much more. The stats he put up against the best teams in the world contributed to Optic’s winning ways, and his 35 kills are third most all-time at international Valorant events. So much of what Marved did helped Optic be the best team in 2022 and that’s why he is our number one Controller player on this list.

Header: Riot Games