Best Valorant Recon Players - 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.

The recon role in Valorant has been present since the game's inception. The role involves finding enemy spots and clearing out off-angles to aid an entry into the site. The part also involves getting early info on attacking enemies to prepare the team for an attack. In Valorant, there are primarily two recon agents, Sova and Fade, and throughout the year, we saw some exceptional plays from the players playing the agent. Information being one of the most critical parts of the pro play, a good recon in a team turned the tide around. Especially in 2022, despite the stars on Chamber, some recon players outshone everyone on the team.

The top five recon Valorant players are as follows:

1. Shao: 

Andrey "Shao" Kiprsky undoubtedly had one of the most fantastic years in 2022. With FPX, the player played out of his mind and took over games in a dominant fashion. His performance peaked at the second Masters in Copenhagen. The player had the most number of clutches at VCT Masters Copenhagen and had an unprecedented number of multi-kill rounds. Shao's performance in the absence of Suygetsu helped the team through the group stage of Masters Copenhagen. With Suygetsu, the duo pulled FPX to victory. Shao consistently performed throughout the year.

[youtube url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmlnYX65_ns"]

2. Crashies: 

Austin "Crashies" Roberts was at the core of the Optic win. While the team relied on Yay for a lot of heavy lifting, Crashies and Marved helped the team escape dire situations. Crashies especially had some amazing rounds, which came at the correct time to flip the script around its head. He was in the center of the Optic VCT Master's Reykjavik run. He always came up clutch when the team needed him the most, but the consistency was lacking. Crashies fell flat at Copenhagen and Valorant Champions, and it just seems he couldn't perform. Due to this, Crashies isn't first place.

[youtube url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrZ1Z3a5nB0"]

3. Sacy:

The Valorant Champion Gustavo "Sacy" Rossi was at the core of the LOUD roster and helped the team get through some trying times. Sacy had some amazing performances throughout the year, but he especially shone at the Valorant Champions. Sacy's USP was his Sova, where he could get maximum value out of his abilities as the agent. With Sacy as the team's recon, Loud secured the Valorant Champions title of 2022.

[youtube url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bF74hiMNN2M"]

4. Derrek: 

Despite not spending much time in a tier 1 team, Derrek "Derrek" He left his mark on the scene. Playing on 100 Thieves, Derrek clutched some unbelievable rounds. Together with 100 thieves, Derrek secured the NA LCQ of 2022 to secure a spot at the Valorant Champions 2022. At the Valorant Champions, Derrek helped the team secure a win against Fnatic. As a Sova/Fade, Derrek used his utility to put himself above the opponents and got out of slippery situations, creating a massive impact.

[youtube url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4UdggXTagA"]

5. Zest: 

DRX's recon, Kim "Zest" Ki-Seok, had somewhat of an inconsistent year, but it did not stop him from putting up insane numbers against the world's top teams. Zest put up decent numbers and was one of the most efficient recons in the scene. What put Zest above the competition is that he showed up in horrible situations when BuZz, Stax, and MaKo struggled to be the best role player on the team or any team.

[youtube url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-m4jQ6yRpJU"]

Honorable Mention - Enzo:

From subbing for Fnatic to helping the team secure the Stage 2 challengers, Enzo had one of the most amazing years. Everyone will remember Enzo's match-saving clutch against Leviatan.

[youtube url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuwWEzsTQLQ"]

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

Credits: VCT Twitter