Hiko names his Top 3 Valorant pros

In the latest episode of the Courage and Nadeshot show podcast, recent 100 Thieves signing Spencer “Hiko” Martin discussed the competitive Valorant scene with his new colleagues. The ex CS:GO pro explained how his perspective has changed since the beginning of the beta, and what he is looking for in potential teammates.

Hiko admitted that originally he expected his fellow former Counter-Strike veterans to be miles ahead. He thought that the experience of playing a similar 5 vs 5 FPS title would give them a huge advantage both in terms of game sense and mechanically.

To be fair, he was kind of right. To begin with, CS:GO pros were definitely the top dogs during the Valorant beta and are probably still ahead after launch. However, Hiko said that he has been surprised at just how quickly players from other games like Overwatch, PUBG and Fortnite are catching up.

When asked about his top 3 current Valorant players, Hiko had some answers ready, but added that these were just the most popular names right now, and there may be some lesser known talents to watch out for.

The first person he mentioned was another CS:GO legend, Braxton “Brax” Pierce, formally “Swag”. As the first pro Valorant signing, T1 will be pleased to hear that their prodigy is performing as expected. He rounded the list out with Cloud 9’s Tyson “TenZ” Ngo and Brandon “Ace” Winn of NRG.

“I think all 3 of them have really strong backgrounds and all 3 of them are very talented” said Hiko. He did understandably cop out when Nadeshot demanded to know who he had been most disappointed with so far, jokingly choosing TimTheTatman.

For any young Valorant hopefuls hoping to make it as a professional, Hiko stressed the importance of networking and having a good attitude. The best strategy to get noticed is probably to grind ranked mode, and respectfully wipe the floor with top players, who all talk to each other.

It was interesting to hear the thoughts of someone who is himself one of the best Valorant pros. Hopefully the tournament structure, at least early on, is fairly open, and gives new names a chance to shine. No doubt people like Brax will do everything they can to stay in that top 3 however.