With the kickoff to the 2024 VCT season only a week away there are notable changes to teams across the Americas league with the MVP of last year moving teams and the leading kills for last year not even in the VCT!
Today we will list 5 players who fans will definitely need to keep an eye on with their possible roles changes and team changes across the 11 teams in the kick off tournament for the Americas League.
5. Max ‘Demon1’ Mazanov
The MVP of VCT Champions 2023, Demon1 has a new spring of life playing for NRG this year. He has moved on from Evil Geniuses but stayed together with Ethan to join Marved, Crashies and Victor to form a super team for the 2024 season with a roster fans are saying is the best in the world.
Most notably known for his clean and smooth aim, the player will most likely be playing jett in the upcoming season however as displayed, he is very versatile and can play either brimstone or Astra if the comp asks for it.
4. Tyson ‘TenZ’ Ngo
Some people might be surprised to see TenZ on this list since his performances as of 2023 have not been anything to scream and shout about. However he has left his jett/raze picks in the past and with new IGL JohnQT, he has moved to the flex role where he plays characters like Omen, Harbour and KAY/0.
Once called the GOAT of VALORANT, he had a poor season last year riddled with injuries, health issues and personal issues evolving around his fiancée, Kyedae.
Despite all the issues he was faced with he seems more determined than ever to make it to the top of Valorant once again and prove to everyone that he wasn’t just a one year wonder.
He did show this during their off season tournament where he showcased his skills on the controller rather than the duelist out performing players such as MaKo, Forsaken and MindFreak.
3. Erick ‘aspas’ Santos
Being named the MVP of the VCT Americas league last season on LOUD, Aspas is highly praised by the valorant community as being one of if not the best player in the world.
Despite this high appraisal, he is on a new team this year, Leviatan, who have also created a super team in VCT with bringing in 2 world champions in Aspas and c0m. It is unknown how this roster plays as a team of five but on paper they are assumed to be one of the best teams in the world.
If Aspas can carry on his form from the last 3 years, he will be able to bring success and trophies to the South American organisation alongside a huge cult following that he has amassed for his flicky aim and crazy operator shots.
2. Jimmy Marved Nguyen
After his 2022 Masters win, Marved announced that he was stepping back from competitive play and decided to sit out for the start of the franchising since his team, Optic gaming, wasn’t chosen for the partnership.
It only took 3 months for him to return however, despite announcing he was stepping back. He signed for sentinels as their 6th man after Hunter ‘SicK’ Mims was forced to step back from his spot on the team. He then got a place on the starting lineup after Dephh retired from professional play and moved onto a coaching role in M80 as the Counter Strike 2 coach.
Despite not winning last year, his hunger for competition and victory is sky high as he joins his former OpTic team mates on the new NRG roster touted for greatness.
1. Zachary ‘Zekken’ Patrone
The number one player who should be on everyone’s watchlist this season is Zekken from Sentinels.
He is one of the most underrated talents that NA has to offer. With last season being a rough one for sentinels, Zekken was primarily on the flex role playing agents like Sova, Omen, Killjoy and Raze throughout the year.
Sentinels seemed to have figured out that Zekken is a player you want to be the main star of the team despite having TenZ on the team. This year he has seemed to move onto the primary duelist role playing jett and raze whilst his team sets him up for success.
Players such as Curry, FNS and S0m have given such high praise to zekken with Curry most notably saying he is the best talent that NA has to offer after Demon1 who has just won the best title VALORANT has to offer.
Being only 18 years old, his aim is crispy and his game sense is still improving. With the help of 3 world champions in TenZ, Sacy and pANcada, we believe that Zekken can leave his mark on the world by winning his team a spot in Masters Madrid by getting top two in the kick off tournament.
VCT Kick-Off 2024
The season is set to kick off on the 16th of February with the new superteam NRG, looking to leave their mark on the league facing off against FURIA.
The games will be streamed on VALORANTS official YouTube and Twitch accounts whilst also being co-streamed by huge personalities such as Tarik, FNS, s0m and Subroza.
The first match is set to be played at 22:00 London time on the 16th.
Power Pitches 