Top 10 Indian Valorant Players of 2022
Here are the best players of the season who outperformed the rest.
Cover-Credits:
AFK Gaming
This year the Indian gaming community was blessed with plenty of top-notch Valorant action with multiple international teams visiting the country, great storylines that lived up to all the hype, and its fair share of esports drama.
The cherry on top was Riot Games partnering with local organizers like The Esports Club, Galaxy Racer India, Skyesports, and Penta Esports via the Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) OFF//SEASON to provide the region with Tier 1 tournaments.
As the 2022 competitive season for Valorant in India draws to a close and the community shifts its gaze towards a new horizon, we take a step back and go through the year once again in search of the top ten players who demonstrated exceptional skills, achieved success, and dominated the competition through the year.
Top 10 Indian Valorant Players of 2022
2023 will be a significant year for esports in India, with the Valorant Champions Tour featuring Global Esports (GE), who will be representing the South Asian region. But before jumping ahead to the next competitive season, we at AFK Gaming wanted to review the best of Indian Valorant from this year, and highlight those who stood out from the competition.
Note: To understand in detail the point system that is being used to rank the players for this list, click here.
10. Sabyasachi "Antidote" Bose
The veteran esports athlete from Kolkata, India is still competing at the highest level and nothing seems to be slowing him down. Antidote has come a long way from his Counter-Strike days where he used to primarily play with a sniper, but now the 26-year-old has taken on more responsibilities and acts as the shotcaller for his side.
Antidote has done really well as a captain, leading his former team (Enigma Gaming) to multiple victories including an appearance in the VCT 2022: APAC Challengers Stage 2, where they rubbed shoulders with some of the best Valorant teams from the Asia Pacific.
He managed to score a total of 22 points according to the point system being implemented and was even awarded 'Best IGL' at the WD Black Cup: Season 3 - King of the Hill, which pushed him to achieve the tenth spot in this year's ranking.
Notable wins with Enigma Gaming in 2022,
WD Black Cup: Season 3 - King of the Hill
Skyesports Pro Invitational - Season 1
TEC Challenger Series 8
9. Bhavin "HellrangeR" Kotwani
Another familiar face who has been around since 2014, initially competing in CS:GO and then switching over to Valorant in 2020, HellrangeR has been a loyal player for Global Esports (GE) since day one.
Unlike his peer, Antidote, he has always been a leader at heart, having found plenty of success with GE and the tight-knit roster that the organization was able to gather.
The highlight for him was to ensure that GE qualified for both the international VCT qualifiers in 2022, VCT 2022: APAC Challengers Stage 1 and Stage 2. It would have been fantastic to see them make a deeper run but even so the consistency from this team is certainly worthy of an applause.
HellrangeR has gathered a total score of 23 points as per the point system in place and was even awarded 'Best IGL' at the Skyesports Champions Series, which resulted in him attaining the ninth spot in this year's ranking.
Notable wins with Global Esports in 2022,
Skyesports Souvenir 2022
Skyesports Champions Series
8. Jayanth "skillZ" Ramesh
Global Esports has had another fantastic year in Valorant and so has skillZ with his support skills that are simply among the best from South Asia. It is easy to overlook his efforts but the support he usually provides with Astra, Sage, and Brimstone is a key part of how the team manages to find so much success.
This was particularly noticed during the VCT 2022: APAC Challengers Stage 1 where skillZ was the best performer among all Indian players present for this tournament. He had an overall rating of 1.01 after 90 rounds and an ACS (Average Combat Score) of 184.5, while also maintaining 25% headshot accuracy and a clutch success rate of 18%.
SkillZ attained a total score of 36 points according to the point system being used and has placed in the eighth spot in this year's ranking.
7. Sagnik "Hellff" Roy
During his time in CS:GO, Hellff got his big break with Global Esports and transitioned over to its Valorant roster in 2020. He departed the team just two days later to join Velocity Gaming, where he continues to fulfill the support role wholeheartedly.
The 24-year-old was a bit of a late bloomer this year, finding his groove from April onwards and delivering some of his best performances across the three TEC Challenger Series events that took place in 2022.
Hellff was awarded a score of 44 points on the basis of the point system in use. He did not have any individual accolades to represent and has achieved the seventh spot in this year's ranking.
6. Abhirup "Lightningfast" Choudhury
Another player who has been loyal to Global Esports since starting out in Valorant, one of the two fraggers for the side who has had an exciting year, but not nearly achieving his true potential.
Lightningfast started hitting his stride in February and reached his peak in June at the VCT 2022: APAC Challengers Stage 2, delivering the best individual performance amongst all Indian players competing in this event.
He attained an overall rating of 1.11 and registered an ACS of 269.4 after playing out 109 rounds. On top of this, the headshot accuracy was still maintained at 27% while his clutch win rate was 17%.
Lightningfast scored 45 points as per the point system and had no individual awards to improve his resume, resulting in him achieving the sixth spot in this year's rankings.
5. Tejas "rite2ace" Sawant
There are just no limits to this Sova main, who is determined to leave his mark in Valorant after having dominated in Counter-Strike for years. Despite being one of the senior players in the circuit, rite2ace has gone toe-to-toe with some of the young fraggers this year and even surpassed a few.
He started out the year with a string of strong performances across the Zotac Cup, VCC 2022: Stage 1, and VCT 2022: APAC Challenger Stage 1. This was followed by a slight slump but he bounced back in the last quarter with TEC Challenger Series 9 and Skyesports SEA Championship.
Rite2ace registered 48 points according to the point system in place and despite no individual honors was able to grab the fifth slot in this year's rankings.
4. Karan "Excali" Mhaswadkar
The king of banter, Excali, might have jumped around quite a bit but that has not affected his game this year as he continued to stick with Enigma Gaming, until the end of the season.
He might have surprised many in the community, maybe even himself with the level of performance that he has delivered in 2022, right up there with some of the most skilled fraggers that the region has to offer.
The 25-year-old was at his finest between March to August, delivering impactful plays across events like TEC Gauntlet Season 4, Skyesports Souvenir 2022, VCT 2022: APAC Challengers Stage 2, Skyesports Pro Invitational Season 1, and a few other tournaments.
Excali scored 75 points as per the point system being implemented and though he did not have any standout performances, he did make an impact on the overall outcome for his team, resulting in a fourth-place finish in this year's rankings.
3. Ganesh "SkRossi" Gangadhar
One of the most popular players from the region, SkRossi was unofficially hailed as the face of South Asian Valorant following his brilliant performance last year. However, this year has been a bit shaky for one of the most feared players in the server.
He was undoubtedly the star player for Global Esports this year but was not able to deliver his absolute best. The 25-year-old was awarded the MVP trophy for his performance at the Skyesports Souvenir 2022, but his best showing was witnessed at the Valorant India Invitational where he stood out as the second-best player with an overall rating of 1.23, ACS of 286.3, and headshot accuracy of 34%.
SkRossi accumulated 92 points on the basis of point system in use while showing his true potential against international teams, all of it combined helped him achieve third place in this year's rankings.
2. Debanjan "DEATHMAKER" Das
If growth could be used to define a Valorant player, it would always land on DEATHMAKER, who has had another prolific year in the server. The multiple MVP awards that he has won are a testament of his skill and hunger to keep dominating the circuit every single year.
The 24-year-old was at his absolute best and kept delivering with high consistency, his individual performance standing out in at least four tournaments - Zotac Cup, Skyesports Pro Invitational Season 2, TEC Challenger Series 7, and TEC Challenger Series 9.
DEATHMAKER scored 101 points according to the point system being used and was even named the MVP of VCC 2022: Stage 1, TEC Challenger S7, and Skyesports Pro Invitational S2, all of it helping him secure the second place in this year's rankings.
1. Akram "Rawfiul" Virani
In a recent tweet, Rawfiul stated "Thank you Enigma Gaming for betting on a underdog like me." Well, it was a jackpot winning gamble as the 21-year-old has worked hard since joining Enigma in April 2021, blossoming into a beast of a player this year.
2022 was a standout season for Rawfiul and will probably be the most important year in his career going forward. He has finally showcased his true potential, dominating the circuit for almost the entire year and bagging four MVP awards in the process - TEC Gauntlet Season 4, WD Black Cup Season 3, Skyesports Champions Series, TEC Challenger Season 8.
Rawfiul scored 125 points as per the point system in place, delivering top-notch performances across various tier one national tournaments, and now holds multiple individual awards to his name.
All of this combined has resulted in him acquiring the first place in this year's ranking and he has been crowned as the best Indian Valorant player of 2022 by AFK Gaming.
Note: Sources for all the information used to prepare this ranking, are VLR.gg, Liquipedia - VALORANT, and The Spike.
