Top five Duelist players in Valorant heading into 2023

The latter half of the 2022 season might be the first time all Duelist agents could be considered balanced.

Neon got her ultimate buffed, Jett is still strong and the Duelists with flashes keep receiving buffs.  As we mentioned in our top five Sentinel players article, the criteria are simple. At least 100 rounds on Duelist agents, participating in the last two international events and any resemblance of success at them.

Honorable mentions: Alfajer, Scream, Rb

05. Byung-chul “BuZz” Yu

As great as DRX were throughout 2022, they often just got unlucky. They faced the eventual winners of both Masters events and Valorant Champions in the second round. They dominated Korea the entire year and played through a lower bracket every single time internationally, peaking at number three on the biggest stage, Valorant Champions 2022. And the man that got them there, was none-other than BuZz.

This guy had an ACS average of 235 throughout 305 rounds on Jett, more than double that of the next-best Jett player. The reason he is fifth on this list is that DRX didn’t use any other Duelist at all the entire year. His teammate and our honorable mention, RB, played Jett at Masters Copenhagen and managed to get some Neon games in as well. Don’t get me wrong, he was also great at those, nearly matching the impact, but the system DRX had worked as a unit, not one player shining. 

04. Jing Jie “Jinggg” Wang

The more I look at the stats, the more I realize Raze actually dominated the competitive Valorant scene in the Duelist role. As bad as her ultimate ability is, only Neon can come close to her ability to create and clear space. Being one of the best Raze players in the last two international events holds a lot of value, and lands Jinggg the fourth spot on our list. 250 ACS on 280 rounds with Raze is mind-boggling but PRX flamed out at Valorant Champions 2022.

If he played more Reyna and Neon games he would definitely be higher up on this list, considering he has even crazier statistics on them. I feel like Jinggg is the more important half of the explosive PRX duo and carrying his team to second place at Masters Copenhagen is a bigger achievement than any of the players below him.

03. Pontus “Zyppan” Eek

We mention a lot of FPX players on our lists, and people are still surprised by it. These guys might not have a huge social media following but they won in Europe and won at international events. Zyppan carried FPX to the Copenhagen Masters title and a fourth-place finish at Valorant Champions with 240 ACS in a staggering 540 rounds on Raze.

He is third because he also played just Raze, but won more and carried further than the players below him.  While the rest of his teammates anchored the defense, he was the only reason FPX got onto sites. FPX won attacking rounds by getting clutches in post-plant situations, which wouldn’t be possible if Zyppan didn’t break open the defense.

02. Erick “aspas” Santos

After BuZz and Zyppan, Aspas was the second-best Jett and Raze player at Valorant Champions 2022. He gave LOUD the best of both worlds when it comes to entry fragging, helping his team secure the title at the biggest international event up to date. And that comes on top of the insane 2022 season he and his team had in Brazil and internationally.

LOUD lost just six of the 40 matches the entire year, three of which were to Optic Gaming at international events. An ACS average of 217 in 250 rounds on the two most popular Duelists against the best players in the world, proves to everyone that Aspas is the second-best Duelist on the planet heading into 2023.

01. Victor ”Victor ” Wong

You guys might be tired of seeing Optic players at the top of our lists, but that’s the story of the numbers. Victor was another reason his team in 2022 finished top three at all three international events. They were the best team in North America and the world for the entire 2022 season and every match was another display of dominance.

Victor played every Duelist agent but Yoru and Reyna at international events, and he wasn’t just good. No, he was ELITE at every single one of them. He was Optic’s tip of the spear, pioneering Neon on multiple maps even before she got buffs to her ultimate ability. If you want numbers, here are his statistics at Valorant Champions and Masters Copenhagen, playing against the best players in the world and always finishing top three. 

	Raze	Neon	Jett	Phoenix
ACS	218	193	194	244
Rounds	280	215	102	63

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