We listed the 10 best Valorant players from each team of the VCT Pacific 2023’s Regular Season
The Pacific League of VCT has concluded its first stage, and we are heading to the Playoffs with six out of the ten participating teams. From the well-known members at DRX to newcomers like Ilya “something” Petrov, we saw the domination of many players in the Regular Season.
Here are the best players from each team from the first part of VCT Pacific 2023 according to VLR, each of whom has been the most consistent in their team, leading their teammates to the Playoffs or just keeping the hopes of the fans alive. Let’s dive in –
Kim “MaKo” Myeong-kwan – DRX
- Role: Controller
- VLR Rating: 1.021
- Average Combat Score: 221.8
- Kill-Death Ratio: 1.25
- Kill/Assist/Trade/Survive: 78%
- Average Damage per Round: 142.4
Seeing Mako as the best member of DRX isn’t surprising, as this smokes player has been on top of his squadmates in almost every S-tier competition, including LOCK//IN this year. The 21-year-old was part of DRX when it was known as Vision Strikers, and he, along with his teammates, helped create the ‘meta’-s that top-tier teams have followed for years.
The South Korean player had a great show from the start, acquiring a 1.50 VLR rating against ZETA DIVISION. MaKo was the MVP for 8 out of 9 games, with an average rating of 1.28, making him the best player so far in this tournament. After taking his team to the Playoffs, we will be seeing more from one of the best Controllers in the world.
Ilya “something” Petrov – Paper Rex
- Role: Flex
- VLR Rating: 1.24
- Average Combat Score: 271.0
- Kill-Death Ratio: 1.39
- Kill/Assist/Trade/Survive: 74%
- Average Damage per Round: 172.3
Credit: Riot Games
By dominating Japan’s Challengers League, something got the attention of Paper Rex, and after practicing with the Singaporean roster, he joined as a substitute. This Russian player had a 305.0 ACS in the Japanese VCL Split 1, acquiring a 1.42 VLR rating and becoming the best in the competition. His goal has been to become a star player in North America, and with his excellent performance in the Pacific League, any team in the world would love to have this Duelist on their lineup.
The 21-year-old didn’t have his VCT debut for the first two weeks of the event and arrived on Week 3, substituting Benedict “Benkai” Tan on Pearl against T1, where he helped his team dominate alongside Jason “f0rsakeN” Susanto with his incredible Jett plays. something enjoyed his best performance against RRQ on Bind, where he played Reyna, considered one of the weakest Duelist Agents in pro play, and picked up a 1.59 rating with 26-11 K/D.
Ha “Sayaplayer” Jung-woo – T1
- Role: Duelist
- VLR Rating: 1.08
- Average Combat Score: 224.5
- Kill-Death Ratio: 1.14
- Kill/Assist/Trade/Survive: 71%
- Average Damage per Round: 144.2
The former Duelist player for The Guard started his professional journey with T1 in North America. He joined back to his old roster in October 2022, which switched to Sayaplayer’s homeland South Korea. During his time in The Guard, the South Korean player had been a consistently good member in charge of Jett and Raze, even helping his squad to beat OpTic Gaming in the North American VCT Challengers’ Grand Final, landing them a spot in Masters Reykjavik in 2022.
Sayaplayer has been sticking to his Agent pool in this event, dominating with the two Duelist characters and leading his team to the 3rd spot in the standings with a 6-3 record. The former Overwatch professional performed best against DRX on the final week of the Regular Season, where he dominated fellow South Koreans with a 27-11 K/D on Pearl, getting a 1.66 VLR rating on that map.
Cahya “Monyet” Nugraha – Global Esports
- Role: Controller
- VLR Rating: 1.15
- Average Combat Score: 247.6
- Kill-Death Ratio: 1.20
- Kill/Assist/Trade/Survive: 72%
- Average Damage per Round: 156.9
While you might have expected Ganesh “SkRossi” Gangadhar to be the best player of Global Esports, his missing a few matches due to visa issues as well as underperforming in some games, allowed Monyet to shine. The young Indonesian showed potential on his first LAN debut at LOCK//IN, and even with his exceptional performance in the Pacific League, his squad couldn’t make it to the Playoffs.
Monyet set the record for most kills in a LAN game against DRX in this event, picking up 39 frags during overtime on Split, following MaKo’s footsteps of being a dominant Controller. It was his best performance in the Regular Season as Monyet achieved a staggering 327 average combat score and a 1.59 VLR rating in that game. However, his teammates were falling behind by a lot, leading to a 0-2 loss in that series, a trend that has been one of the primary reasons for the Indian roster’s failure.
David “xffero” Monangin – Rex Regum Qeon
- Role: Initiator
- VLR Rating: 1.04
- Average Combat Score: 204.2
- Kill-Death Ratio: 1.06
- Kill/Assist/Trade/Survive: 74%
- Average Damage per Round: 131.9
The Indonesian player was part of BOOM Esports during most of 2022, winning the Asia-Pacific LCQ and reaching last year’s Champions event, where he showed glimpses of talent against OpTic and ZETA DIVISION. The 21-year-old joined RRQ in October last year and has played as their Intiatiator during this tournament.
From his very first game at this Pacific League, xffero proved himself Intimidating on a rather weak roster. In fact, he has been one of the most dominant Intitator/Controller players in VCT, considering his incredible K/D, such as 29-16 against Paper Rex on Pearl and 20-9 on Ascent facing Talon. By far, his best performance was on the match against DFM, where he dominated the first map with a 24-7 K/D and an incredible 2.10 VLR rating. Sadly, we won’t be seeing more from this talented young player in this event, with Rex Regum Qeon getting eliminated.
Shota “SugarZ3ro” Watanabe – ZETA DIVISION
- Role: Controller
- VLR Rating: 1.02
- Average Combat Score: 197.9
- Kill-Death Ratio: 1.06
- Kill/Assist/Trade/Survive: 74%
- Average Damage per Round: 129.7
The trend of Controller players dominating in the Pacific League continues with SugarZ3ro, as this former Rainbow Six Siege professional led his team to the Playoffs. The Japanese player had an incredible debut at his first-ever international LAN event, becoming the lifeline for his team at Masters Reykjavík, and he repeated this performance here in the Pacific League.
SugarZ3ro’s 22-7 K/D against RRQ on Lotus ended the Week 2 series in a dominant fashion while get received a 1.88 rating providing his best show in the Regular Season. He and ZETA’s Duelist Koji “Laz” Ushida were the primary reasons for the team’s success so far.
Lee “k1Ng” Seung-won – Gen.G
- Role: Sentinel/Controller
- VLR Rating: 1.04
- Average Combat Score: 206.3
- Kill-Death Ratio: 1.13
- Kill/Assist/Trade/Survive: 72%
- Average Damage per Round: 135.1
Coming with immense experience from his time in Vision Strikers, it was evident that k1Ng would become Gen.G’s most important player in this tournament. We saw this 21-year-old turn up at LOCK//IN against LOUD, where he picked up 21 frags on Pearl playing Viper, staying miles above his team in terms of rating.
k1Ng had many incredible moments so far, but this South Korean’s best performance was a 2.05 rating on Haven against T1 with a 23-6 K/D on Killjoy of all Agents. Due to Gen.G’s dominant 4-0 start in this event, they have made it to the Playoffs even after losing the rest of the games, which means we will see more from this talented name.
Adrian “invy” Reyes – Team Secret
- Role: Initiator
- VLR Rating: 1.08
- Average Combat Score: 220.1
- Kill-Death Ratio: 1.09
- Kill/Assist/Trade/Survive: 73%
- Average Damage per Round: 144.4
During his time in OASIS GAMING, invy helped his team make waves in several Challengers events, which led to him joining Team Secret in December last year. The Initiator player shined under Jessie “JessieVash” Cristy Cuyco’s leadership in this team, making a splash at LOCK//IN against Team Liquid this year.
Even though invy’s best performance statistically was against Paper Rex on Fracture, you have to consider his assistance for his teammates when facing DRX, as he helped Team Secret bring a major upset against the previously unbeaten titans of this event with his Breach and Kayo plays.
Seo “Suggest” Jae-young – DetionatioN FocusMe
- Role: Flex
- VLR Rating: 1.02
- Average Combat Score: 220.0
- Kill-Death Ratio: 1.12
- Kill/Assist/Trade/Survive: 74%
- Average Damage per Round: 140.0
Suggest took part in the first-ever international LAN event of Valorant under the banner of NUTURN Gaming, but he failed to prove his worth as we barely saw the Duelist player make big plays in that event. However, even with a dominant look at VCT Pacific, he couldn’t gather a single victory for his team, as DetonatioN FocusMe had a shameful departure from the event.
The 20-year-old South Korean flex player frequently had the most kills for his team, but his impact has gone unnoticed under his team’s disappointing 0-9 run. Suggest had his best form against Gen.G on Lotus, where he dominated the server on Raze and picked up 23-13 K/D and a 1.69 rating.
Patiphan “Patt” Chaiwong – Talon Esports
- Role: Flex
- VLR Rating: 1.04
- Average Combat Score: 240.3
- Kill-Death Ratio: 1.11
- Kill/Assist/Trade/Survive: 69%
- Average Damage per Round: 150.4
It’s sad to see beloved Patt, former in-game name Patiphan, be at the bottom of this list and his team getting eliminated from participating in the Playoffs. The 2021’s 3rd best Valorant player in Asia had a great run that year, playing several international events and even reaching the Quarterfinals of the Champions 2021.
Even with Patt’s best effort, Talon was the second-worst team in this event, with a 3-6 record. It seemed like he wanted to set a record in the Regular Season by picking the most number of Agents after playing eight different characters for his team. His 1.47 rating against DFM on Lotus was the best we saw from Patt, and even though he hasn’t been the team’s MVP most of the time, his consistency allowed him to be on top of his teammates in terms of pure statistics.
Be sure to check out our sea of other content on VCT Pacific, EMEA and Americas, as well as future Valorant events.
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