Top five Sentinel players in Valorant heading into 2023

2022 was a good year to play Chamber in Valorant. Despite this, some Sentinel players managed to stand out without abusing him.

Riot Games have a nasty habit of making one aspect of their games so grossly overpowered it shapes an entire meta or year. Chamber took over Jett in that role and has dominated professional play from day one. When making a list like this, it’s very tempting to disqualify all Chamber players that played Jett before or have never played another Sentinel agent. But credit where credit is due, they still shaped Valorant history.

Format and criteria

Trying to materialize the idea for this article meant that some things must be sacrificed. That’s why we are basing the list on players’ performances throughout Stage two of the Challengers tour. This includes the regular split leading to Masters Copenhagen, Masters Copenhagen, and Valorant Champions 2022. The players with the best performances on Sage, Killjoy, Cypher, and Chamber with at least 80 rounds played made this list. All stats are pulled from vlr.gg and team performance matters a lot since stats don’t equal wins. 

Honorable mentions: Stellar, Laz, Cryocells

05. Dmitry “SUYGETSU” Ilyushin

We kick off this list with a big asterisk. Suygetsu played a Sentinel agent in just 36% of the rounds during the three periods of competition mentioned. But those 36% were split between Sage, Cypher, and Killjoy, which not many players on this list pulled off. Winning the Stage Two Masters in Copenhagen holds a lot of weight by itself, never mind the insane performances he had there. He had an ACS of 230 throughout the 280 rounds played on Sentinel agents during the period, and if it wasn’t for his teammate Shao playing Sage, he would probably be higher up on this list.

04. Nikita “Derke” Sirmitev

It’s easy to make a top five Sentinel players list with five Chamber players, but that would be unfair. Among his international peers, Fnatic’s Derke is a top three Chamber player. Consistently being one of the best players in the EMEA helps his case, but Fnatic’s lack of international success drags him down this list. The Fin is merciless with a sniper or Headhunter in his hands, having a ridiculous 251 ACS throughout 432 rounds in the last 90 days.

03. Ardis “ardiis” Svarenieks

As we said, winning matters more than stats. And looking at them,  Ardis is right on par with Derke on this one. 246 ACS in 572 rounds with Chamber, most of which came in games where Derke was already disqualified. Bonus points to Ardis for trying his luck on Cypher once, but his astonishing K/D of 1,3 on Chamber is only worse than our top placement on this list. Ardis was the king of getting the first kill and getting out at the last two international events, and his efforts led FPX to the Masters Copenhagen title.

02. Felipe “Less” Basso

As much as you would like to clamor about “recency bias”, hear me out on this one. Less is the youngest player on this list by a long shot and he had an amazing final against OpTic, winning the 2022 Valorant Champions with LOUD. He passed the eye test under the brightest lights, and any organization that has him for the 2023 season will be a contender. More importantly, he performed at his highest level when he wasn’t on Chamber. 250 ACS in 74 rounds on Cypher, most of which brought Brazil their first international event win. Even his Killjoy was better than his Chamber, making him the best performing Sentinel player heading into 2023.

01. Jaccob “yay” Whiteaker

Like always, we have the best for last. El Diablo had a year for the history books in 2022, which will be hard to duplicate regardless of the meta next year. He is, without question, the best Chamber player in the world. 251 ACS in a ridiculous 838 rounds in the last 90 days alone, playing against the best players in the world under the brightest lights. OpTic placed top three in the last three international events, winning the Stage One Masters in Reykjavik, and were the best team in North America. Apart from sustained excellence, what set Yay apart from the rest were the circumstances.

If Yay had a bad day, Optic looked beatable. Looking at the stats, he was by a 100 ACS ahead of every Optic member at every event. Optic won with different guys stepping up at the right time, clutching rounds, and flawless execution, but Yay was the engine that made everything go forward. The highest K/D and First Blood % on the planet proves he understood his role on the agent and trying to discredit it is a cheap shot at excellence.

Header: Riot Games