The Brain of the operation: Best Valorant IGLs - 2022 Strafe Edition

To commemorate the Valorant Competitive 2022 year, Strafe Writers Ganesh and Zen compiled a list of the top player in specific roles. The roles considered were Flex, IGL, Entry, Site Anchor, OPer, Recon, and Controller.

IGL or In-Game Leaders lead the team in Valorant and out of it. While being one of the most underrated roles in any competitive Sports or Esports, IGLs are the brain of the operation. The IGL makes all the calls in-game and is responsible for how the team plays. Their role is to bring structure to the team and ensure all the players do their job and achieve the intended results. While IGLs might not add much to the stats, their impact translates to the team's performance and mental aptitude. While the coaches and analysts develop the strategy, the responsibility of implementing it falls on the IGLs.

The top five IGLs in Valorant 2022 are as follows:

1. FNS:

Pujan "FNS" Mehta is one of the smartest IGLs in the game right now. Along with Chet, FNS and Optic were the first ones to see the strength of Chamber. They used him to win the VCT Master Reykjavik 2022. FNS is one of the calmest IGLs in Valorant and has led Optic to be the best team in 2022. Along with the chamber meta, Optic also perfected the Neon composition and Triple Initiator Composition and has always been ahead of the meta curve in Valorant.

2. Saadhak:

Matias "Saadhak" Delipetro's calling has been on top of the game this year. From dominating the Brazilian scene to winning the biggest Valorant tournament of the year, the calm and collected calling of Saadhak helped LOUD to the top. While Saadhak is a master of fundamentals and understands his players making LOUD a top team this year.

3. ANGE1:

One of the most legendary CSGO IGLs who transitioned to Valorant, Kyrylo "ANGE1" Karasov, and FPX were the top dogs of EMEA. ANGE1's experience translated well to Valorant, and his calling helped FPX clinch the VCT Master Copenhagen Title. Facing Paper Rex in the finals, Ange1's calling helped FPX find an answer to Paper Rex's flashy play style and stopped the W Gaming Train in its track. ANGE1 will now play under the Navi banner, and the team will surely be among the strongest in 2023.

4. Stax:

Kim "Stax" Gu-Taek led the Korean DRX squad from the front. Especially when the team needed Stax the most, the DRX IGL clutched and broke through streaks of rounds to break the momentum. What set Stax and DRX apart from the competition is the team's ability to come back from a major setback. This resulted in one of the greatest comebacks of DRX at Valorant Champions from a 4-12 deficit.

5. Benkai: 

Benedict “Benkai” Tan led the W gaming Paper Rex to new heights this year. With absolute APAC domination and an international run that took out some of the best teams in the world, Benkai and Paper Rex played the game their way. With off-meta comps and an aggressive playstyle, Paper Rex took the Valorant world by storm in 2022. Breaking the norms of how the game is played, Benkai and Paper Rex took down Optic, Fnatic, DRX and many more big names of 2022.

Honorable Mention - Boaster:

Jake "Boaster" Howlett is another Big Brain IGL in the game. Leading Fnatic, Boaster helped the team secure EMEA dominance and achieved some critical performance. Despite the disappointments throughout the year, Boaster and Fnatic's micro plays were second to none this year. Coming into the 2023 year, Boaster and Fnatic will shine brighter and might come out as the best team of the year.

This concludes our top five Valorant Operator players 2022 list. Stay tuned for more top five for other roles.