TenZ vs nAts: Valorant Esports' First Great Rivalry?

The dust has settled after the conclusion of Valorant’s first year of esports, and several players have established claim to being the best in the world. At the start of 2021, Tyson “TenZ” Ngo had the most remarkable start to his run with Sentinels. The former Cloud9 player had stepped down from competitive play to focus on content creation and within a matter of weeks he became the talk of the town. Sentinels was unstoppable during Stage One and Two and the team secured back-to-back Masters wins. TenZ’s dueling capabilities are among the best in the world; he is no stranger to high-pressure situations.

While everyone had nothing but praise for TenZ with North America dominating most of 2021, Ayaz "nAts" Akhmetshin quickly climbed the ranks and caught the attention of analysts and fans alike. While TenZ is aggressive and methodical, nAts relies on knowledge and craftiness. After all, he is known for Viper and Cypher, two agents that demand game sense and map awareness. When it comes to mechanical skill, TenZ and nAts may be evenly matched but their playstyles are completely different. TenZ is a swift executioner while nAts loves to control the playing field before striking.

But which of these two players has more claim to the title of “best player in the world” and what would it take for either of these two players to cement their spot as Valorant’s number one?

Year in Review: TenZ

TenZ started competing in CS:GO and was part of multiple tier-two teams before transitioning to Cloud9. He stepped down from Cloud9’s competitive CS:GO roster back in December 2019. Once Riot Games’ First Person Shooter came out, it caught his attention and he was picked up by his former team Cloud9. During his time at C9, the team didn’t quite grab any headlines and the only notable event that it won was the EsportsDoug x eUnited Charity Clash.

Eventually, he decided to step down from Cloud9’s active roster and focus on content creation. He made it clear that he would return to competitive play in the future but no one expected TenZ to make a comeback in just a matter of weeks. Sentinels was going through a crisis with Jay “Sinatraa” Won being banned for alleged sexual misconduct related to an ex-girlfriend and TenZ was loaned out to the team from Cloud9 to fill his shoes.

After an exciting start to his journey with Sentinels, it became evident that TenZ had found his new home. Sentinels was already a solid squad and Sinatraa was one of the best players in North America (NA) at the time, but he did not get a chance to prove himself due to the controversy he found himself in. Riot was unable to find enough evidence to prove Sinatraa guilty but Sentinels decided to retain TenZ as part of the active roster, and Sinatraa ultimately turned to content creation under the organization’s banner.

After helping Sentinels secure first-place at North America’s Stage One Masters event, everyone wanted him to continue with the winning team. After Sentinels struck a deal with Cloud9 to retain TenZ as a permanent member of the roster, the team became unstoppable. It won NA’s Stage 2 Challengers and made its way through to Masters Stage 2 Reykjavik. It was the first major international Valorant event and TenZ was quick to prove his skill at that level.

The Canadian esports star helped Sentinels secure a decisive 3-0 victory against Fnatic at Reykjavik and he also won the MVP award for his solid performance. With a spot at the world championships secured, everyone was wondering if Sentinels could win three Masters events in a row, but that’s where nAts stepped in and ushered in the era of European dominance in Valorant.

Year in Review: nAts

NAts is not your typical player who makes headlines at every event. He is a powerhouse who delivers consistent performances and is one of the most cerebral players in Valorant. NAts does not rely on Jett’s flashy movement or Raze’s explosive playstyle. Instead, he lives and breathes in Viper’s toxin screens and gathers intel as Cypher. He takes his time understanding every situation and strikes only when he needs to.

CS:GO and Valorant share similarities but nAts embraces the things that make Riot’s shooter unique. He leverages abilities and knows how to make the most out of Viper’s kit. He is one of the most inventive players in the game with an innate ability to tactically use smokes and abilities to get behind enemies and pick them off when they least expect it.

While TenZ was making headlines in Stage One and Two, nAts was perfecting his craft to become one of the most impactful players at Masters Berlin. NAts did not even break a sweat during the semi finals and the grand finals. Gambit would go on to win the event and earn a slot at Champions, setting the stage for a showdown between nAts and TenZ.

He might not top the leaderboards and be among the top five players at events (in terms of raw statistics alone), but if you check out his gameplay you will know why he is so crucial to the Gambit roster. NAts is capable of shutting down enemy duelists and taking out the biggest threats: At Masters Berlin, he had no trouble keeping G2’s Cista "Keloqz" Wassim and Envy’s Jaccob "yay" Whiteaker on their toes. Both Keloqz and yay are known for their technical prowess and yet nAts managed to be the kryptonite Gambit needed him to be.

Everyone would have loved to have had a Sentinels vs Gambit Esports matchup but it was not meant to be. Sentinels’ impressive run came to an abrupt end with European teams completely dominating the world championships. Had it not been for KRU Esports’ heroics, we would witness an all-European semi-final round. Gambit managed to shut down KRU Esports’ dream run and made its way to the grand final.

Acend may have beaten Gambit Esports, but the grand final was nothing short of a one-man show by nAts. He outperformed and outclassed everyone else on the biggest night of the year. He had more damage, more kills, and less deaths than anyone else on stage, and yet his efforts were not enough. Had he managed to win the world championship, it would be irrefutable that nAts holds the highest claim towards being called the “best Valorant player” in the world.

TenZ vs nAts: How do they match up?

If we look at accomplishments alone, both players have two Masters wins each. TenZ won NA Masters One and Masters 2 Reykjavik, while nAts won CIS Stage One Masters and Masters 3 Berlin.

If we look at their performances throughout 2021 from a statistical perspective, here’s how they match up currently:

It is too close to definitively say which player takes the title of “best Valorant player” and with both players falling short at Champions, the rivalry must go on. 2022 might help the community put an end to the long-running debate. But not having someone who is significantly better than everyone else might be a good thing.

Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev (CS:GO) and Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok (League of Legends) in their prime are a cut above the rest and honestly, the difference between TenZ, nAts, and some of the other powerhouse players in the VCT isn’t noticeable yet. We have the likes of Nikita "Derke" Sirmitev from Fnatic and Acend’s Mehmet Yağız "cNed" İpek, who could very well lay claim to the throne on statistics alone.

It is a debate that is best settled with trophies and medals, and as it stands both TenZ and nAts have a long way to go. Unlike a lot of other pros in the Valorant scene who made their way to the game from CS:GO, TenZ and nAts are young and may have a lot of untapped potential. With both players evenly matched, it will be interesting to see how they match up against each other this year in 2022.