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Top 10 Best Valorant Players to Have Never Won an International Event

Owen Harsono
Owen Harsono Published 06/08/2026
Valorant

We’ve seen countless talented Valorant players, but the reality is that not everyone can win an international trophy. Some are world-class players who have cracked aim and insane utility usage, but are still missing that one big win in their careers. Below, we take a look at the top 10 Valorant players who have never won a VCT Masters or Champions title.

Matthew “Cryocells” Panganiban

Cryocells has been one of North America’s best Valorant players for a while now. He first started his professional journey on XSET and was eventually picked up by 100 Thieves to become the team’s star player.

cryocells best valorant player

Image via Stefan Wisnoski / Riot Games

Cryo consistently puts up very solid numbers, but we haven’t really seen much international success. Still, if 100 Thieves can get the man some help, we might see him shine on the game’s biggest stage in the future.

He still has a lot of time in his career, and it feels like he just needs that one catalyst to become a champion.

Mert “Wo0t” Alkan

Turkey’s Wo0t is one of the deadliest Valorant aimers we’ve seen in recent times. This guy’s mechanics are off the charts, and watching him play these flashy agents like Jett is always a treat to watch.

wo0t best valorant players

Image via Colin Young-Wolff / Riot Games

Wo0t has stuck with Team Heretics throughout his entire Tier 1 career. He came super close to a title twice at VCT Masters Shanghai and VCT Champions, both in 2024. Regrettably, Wo0t failed at the last hurdle both times, losing to EDward Gaming and Gen.G.

Still, he’s found success elsewhere, like winning the Esports World Cup in 2025. That is technically an international event, but as we’re only looking at official VCT tournaments that doesn’t count. He’s still very young at 20, so he’ll definitely have more opportunities to win that elusive trophy in the years to come.

Adrian “invy” Reyes

Paper Rex bailed invy out of Team Secret jail by picking him up as the team’s primary initiator. Despite the leap from playing in one of Pacific’s worst teams to one of the best, invy seems to be fitting right in.

invy best valorant players

Image via Colin Young-Wolff / Riot Games

In a team full of accomplished superstars, invy has actually maintained one of the highest ratings on the team throughout 2026. And despite the lack of international experience, invy has been playing up to the standards expected from him.

With Paper Rex, invy has come extremely close to winning an international trophy twice, but lost two grand final matches in a row against Nongshim RedForce and Leviatan in back-to-back tournaments. But, he’s already shown some great potential from what we’ve seen so far.

Nathan “leaf” Orf

Up next, we have G2’s very own leaf. Before becoming a Valorant pro, leaf was doing relatively well in North American Counter-Strike, where he found pretty good success regionally.

leaf best valorant player

Image via Jianhua Chen / Riot Games

However, he, like many others, jumped ship and moved to Valorant in 2020. He played for Cloud9 for some time, but eventually joined G2 in 2023. It didn’t take long for results to pour in, as leaf won four Americas titles and made multiple appearances at international events.

Still, despite multiple deep runs at Masters events, leaf and G2 could never get the job done. On a positive note, leaf has become one of the most important members of the G2 roster, and it’s only a matter of time until he figures out the formula.

Georgio “keiko” Sanassy

Keiko is a late-starter on this list, as he only started playing tier-one Valorant in 2024, but he wasted no time in making himself known.

keiko best valorant players

Image via Jianhua Chen / Riot Games

His first big break was playing for Team Liquid, but that didn’t really take off. Apart from an EMEA Stage 2 victory in 2025, Liquid were only met with disappointing performances after disappointing performances. But despite the poor results, keiko was still dropping some very solid numbers.

The Brit was eventually picked up by world champions NRG, meaning he would relocate to North America – and so far, the move is paying off. Keiko has looked like the team’s best player, and with a squad of experienced winners, an international title might not be too out of reach.

Enes “RieNs” Ecirli

Wo0t’s reliable teammate RieNs takes the number five spot on our list. RieNs is best known as Team Heretics’ recon player. He primarily plays agents like Fade and Sova, which aren’t too flashy.

riens best valorant players

Image via Colin Young-Wolff / Riot Games

Still, even though RieNs has to juggle between utility and shooting heads, he still manages to put up some very solid performances. Not to mention, he’s also very reliable in the clutch and has played a pivotal role in some of Heretics’ deepest international runs.

Unfortunately, he and Wo0t are in the same boat in the sense that they’re yet to win a Masters or Champions trophy despite coming close twice. Still, RieNs is a steady performer and has a bright future ahead of him.

Kajetan “kaajak” Haremski

There aren’t too many players who exploded into the scene like kaajak did. He was the primary duelist of Apeks – one of the worst-performing teams in VCT EMEA. However, his individual performance was enough to land him a spot on Fnatic – one of the best Valorant teams in history.

kaajak best valorant player

Image via Colin Young-Wolff / Riot Games

With Boaster’s guidance, kaajak immediately got to work and became one of the most eruptive duelist players in the world in 2025. He was putting in some serious numbers, leading Fnatic to two grand final appearances at VCT Masters Toronto and VCT Champions in the same year.

Sadly, Fnatic couldn’t get the job done in both attempts, meaning kaajak shared a similar story to invy – losing two international grand finals in a row. Though Fnatic are in a rough patch in 2026, we believe kaajak has all the skills required to bounce back.

Jacob “valyn” Batio

Valyn is someone who had to grind from the bottom and earn his respect. He started his Valorant career playing for various stacks until settling under The Guard. There, he hustled his way to VCT Ascension 2023 and qualified for franchising.

valyn best valorant player

Image via Colin Young-Wolff / Riot Games

After making it to the big leagues, valyn and The Guard were picked up by G2, and he’s been on the team since. Valyn plays the role of an in-game leader, and despite having to make mid-round calls and keep an eye on the minimap at all times – he’s still a very effective fragger.

It’s safe to call valyn one of the best fragging IGLs in the world today. Unfortunately, he’s never found his luck in any Masters and Champions tournaments, but he’s still one of the most valuable players in the world.

Kim “MaKo” Myeong-kwan

If there’s one person the community wants to win an international title, it has to be South Korea’s MaKo.

mako best valorant player

Image via Adela Sznajder / Riot Games

MaKo has been playing professional Valorant ever since the game started, playing for Korea’s top teams like Vision Striker and DRX. He’s made several deep runs at internationals, finishing third at VCT Champions 2022 and 2025.

Despite a rocky career, MaKo has stayed loyal to DRX, even when his former teammates left for T1 and claimed an international trophy without him. Today, MaKo is still a very reliable controller player and a man of the people.

Trent “trent” Cairns

We’ll have to give the number one spot to G2’s trent, who has worked side-by-side with valyn throughout his entire journey.

trent best valorant players

Image via Jianhua Chen / Riot Games

Trent is tasked with recon duties for G2, and despite playing a supporting role – he still puts up insane numbers for the team. He has consistently been a top-ten player in the world almost every season.

Back when Tejo was in the meta, trent quickly became the best player on that agent worldwide. However, people didn’t really believe in his individual skill. They were calling him a “Tejo merchant” and that he would be nothing without it.

However, Tejo has been nerfed to the ground, but trent continues to play like one of the best Valorant players in the world. In our eyes, he’s the most talented player on this list.

Feature Image Credit: Riot Games

Owen Harsono Owen Harsono
About Owen Harsono

Owen lives for competition, spending most of his gaming hours on Dota 2, CS2, and Valorant. A regular on the SEA Dota 2 leaderboards, he combines his first-hand experience with a deep passion for esports journalism, following the professional scenes of all three esports betting titles religiously. When he’s not writing, he’s most probably betting on esports and watching the latest events.

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