Wo0t wins VCT EMEA 2024 Season MVP

1 Jul

Foo Zen-Wen

In similar fashion to VCT Americas, VCT EMEA has now announced their own winners for the Season awards. Much like VCT Americas, 7 categories have been announced, with 55 players competing for individual glory. Let us meet the winners of the VCT EMEA 2024 season.

Duelist of the Season

Winner: Saif “Sayf” Jibraeel

Runner-up: Nikita “Derke” Sirmitev

After a stellar Stage 2 performance that saw Team Vitality turn their fortunes around, the man at the forefront of the change - Sayf - has won the Duelist of the Season title for his outstanding impact and performance on the server.

What most likely sealed his vote was his remarkable ability to break open rounds, both on Attack and Defense, finding crucial picks for his team in the slimmest of margins. In that sense, much like aspas, he is an expert at timings and opportunities.

Derke rounds up as the runnerup for the list. Despite his consistency as the duelist for Fnatic this year, unlike last year, he didn’t quite have the same spark and it showed in Fnatic’s more lukewarm run this year. That said, the year isn’t over and Derke could very well end up proving us all wrong.

Controller of the Season

Winner: Ričardas “Boo” Lukaševičius

Runner-up: Ata “ATA KAPTAN” Tan

Carving up territory for his roster, Boo has little need to exert himself in the fragging department considering who he has as teammates. And yet, he remains one of the most stolid anchors in the world. Regardless of the execute he faces, I’ve rarely seen him fall without exacting a heavy toll on the opposition.

In terms of utility usage for delaying and carving up territory, Boo has been one of the best this season without a doubt. Coming in second, ATA KAPTAN has been another notable name this season. Despite missing the accolades and international recognition of a team such as Heretics, FUT have been steadily accruing experience and success this year. In Shanghai they eliminated Fnatic. In EMEA Stage 2, they finished the regular season with the highest score.

ATA KAPTAN himself is known as one of the most stalwart pillars of FUT’s composition, regularly serving as the anchor or support for the team. His ability to synergise with his teammates has been a keystone of FUT’s incredible teamfighting success in EMEA.

Initiator of the Season

Winner: Enes “RieNs” Ecirli

Runner-up: Timofey “Chronicle” Khromov

The silent MVP of Heretics has to go to RieNs for his fantastic debut year. Outshined in some ways by Wo0ts brilliance, nonetheless, RieNs has been one of the most incredible talents to stand tall in VCT EMEA this year. Persistent, consistent support for Heretics, it feels almost impossible to fully describe how RieNs has been performing this year. The most apt description would be 'he's always there' it feels. Whether it be clutches or setting up his teammates, RieNs is never far from the action.

Runner-up Chronicle may not be in the running for best player in the world this year, but even at his lowest, he's still one of the most incredible flex players for Fnatic. Whatever the role, Chronicle always finds a way to bring impact for his roster in key rounds. More than that, his utility usage has been noted to be absolutely key, with a speciality in spatial awareness during more chaotic moments.

Most importantly, due to Leo absence, Fnatic's shuffling of roles has left much of Leo's former duties in the hands of Chronicle, meaning that the man with multiple hats has pulled an honourable mention for a role that isn't even his primary.

Sentinel of the Season

Winner: Benjy “benjyfishy” Fish

Runner-up: Emirhan “hiro” Kat

Mr. Benjyfishy, the fortnite immigrant, has arrived well and truly in VALORANT. In his debut year alone, he has attended every single international tournament in the circuit, no mean feat. Besides that, he has also attended nearly every Grand Finals as well, and has proven himself to be one of the most rock solid defenders in EMEA, specialising in area denial. With creative setups abound, countless rounds were won by Benjy singlehandedly, thereby earning him Sentinel of the Season undoubtedly.

In second place, we have a last minute candidate, Hiro, who came into Fnatic only in Stage 2 to compete after Leo "Leo" Jannesson stepped down momentarily due to illness. While his time in EMEA may have been short so far, his impact as a standin for Leo has been nothing short of incredible. Much less because while Chronicle has been filling in for Leo's roles, Hiro has been taking on the sentinel static role from Alfajer. And what a magnificient job he has managed to do for the team, delivering in a massive way that truly does beg the question, how deep does EMEA's talent pool go?

IGL of the Season

Winner: Ričardas “Boo” Lukaševičius

Runner-up: Jake “Boaster” Howlett

After a dismal 2023 season, Boo remained as the sole survivor of a culling that saw 4 of his teammates claimed at the end of 2023. In their stead, he was placed amongst 4 new rookies and placed with a task of shaping this raw roster of potential into a championship-winning team. And he did.

Low expectations at Kickoff were quickly overturned when this squad took 2nd place, losing out to Karmine Corp. Since then they have attended every single international event in 2024, and every Grand Final save for the VCT EMEA Playoffs Grand Finals (losing out to Vitality in the Lower Finals).

Boo has done a remarkable job of turning the raw potential that is this new Heretics roster into a fighting machine with the capabilities of crafting an era to call its own. In second place, we have the ever-radiant Boaster.

Despite a fairly turbulent 2024 by Fnatic’s standards, he and his squad managed to right the ship in time to still maintain the lead as the strongest EMEA team by results heading into Seoul. His shot-calling and usage of talent remains one of the best in EMEA, along with his ability to read the mid-game.

Coach of the Season

Winner: Neil “neilzinho” Finlay

Runner-up: Andrey “Engh” Sholokhov

There can be little doubt in anyone’s mind that if 2024 was the year of Heretics’ domination in Europe, then the man behind the machine deserves the most accolades. Neilzinho has been a primary driver for this roster this year, and the powerful mind behind the hungry rookies on Heretics.

Solid fundamentals, bold tactical depth, a wealth of experience, Heretics has been forged into a deadly weapon this year, and undoubtedly, neilzinho is at the helm.

Coming in right behind him is another man who has made full tactical use of the young raw talent in EMEA. Karmine Corp’s Engh, a man who’s already proven his caliber with the previous Gambit roster and won a Masters event has now returned to once again prove his legacy will not be a one note.

Player of the Season

Winner: Mert “Wo0t” Alkan

Runner-up: Emir “Alfajer” Beder

Over the course of 2024, Wo0t has proven to be the classic trope of “unknown rookie turns out to be absolutely broken.” His aim on the server is only outclassed by his absolute flexibility on agents. From Stage 1 to Shanghai, Wo0t’s reliability on whatever he’s placed on means that Heretics can afford to show many different faces in terms of composition.

It has also allowed the roster to accommodate the absence of such a key member as Dominykas “MiniBoo” Lukaševičius to such an extent that even the team losing such a key entry specialist was still not enough to faze them from a Grand Finals finish.

Alfajer finishing in 2nd only serves to highlight how completely ridiculous Wo0t’s debut year has been in VCT EMEA. Despite the former’s incredible consistency as the best player for Fnatic in 2024, Wo0t was just that good.

As we conclude 2024 with Champions Seoul, reflecting on the stellar performances of VCT EMEA”s finest players with these Season Awards showcases the dominance of Heretics in the league this year and the potential that young players can bring to this historic region.

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Credit: David Lee/Riot Games

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