VALORANT top 10 rookies of 2024

The VALORANT cyber sports scene has resonated with fans from all over the world and has been going strong for almost 5 years now. Since the release of the game, viewers have formed lists of favorites, both teams and players. The tags of such celebrities as aspas or TenZ are known to everyone who follows the professional scene, but we should not forget that they were also newcomers. At the end of the year, we decided to draw the attention of our readers to the VALORANT rookies who have already made a name for themselves on the VCT scene.

VALORANT top 10 newcomers

Emirhan “hiro” Kat - Natus Vincere

Emirhan “hiro” Kat has already made his mark on the VALORANT scene many times since his arrival. His journey started with a small Irish team WYLDE, in which he spent a little more than half a year. Together with it he managed to take part in the VALORANT Challengers 2023 France: Revolution Split 1 and 2 and showed a very good result, which helped him to win 3rd and 5th place.

Not long after, the young player became part of Papara SuperMassive, with whom he tried his luck for the second time at the qualifiers for VCT Ascension EMEA 2024. However, their results were too low to achieve such a goal.

Despite the poor performance of the teams, hiro was noticed by such a big club as Fnatic, which he eventually joined. In the short time that he played for the team he managed to win the VCT 2024: EMEA Stage 2 and then went to the VALORANT Champions 2024 with the team. Finding himself among the best of the best hiro performed well and was repeatedly recognized by commentators and other professional players for his good play.

At the moment the player became a part of Natus Vincere and is preparing to participate in VCT 2025: EMEA Kickoff.

Marshall “N4RRATE” Massey - Sentinels

The year 2023 was rich in new talents and among them we would like to mention a young American player Marshall “N4RRATE” Massey. He was first seen as a member of the student team at the FreshCut Community Series, where he and his team earned their first winnings in the form of $ 3000 for 1st place.

Immediately afterward, the player was recruited by European club MAD Lions, who at the time were looking for players to try to qualify for the VALORANT Challengers 2024 North America: Split 1 through qualifiers. And they almost succeeded, however the team was defeated by OREsports at the last minute.

After this failure, the team management decided to disband the team, after which, N4RRATE joined Karmine Corp. In this team, the young American was able to truly reveal himself playing the role of guardian. His journey in 2024 began with a victory at the VCT 2024: EMEA Kickoff, after which the player went to the first international Masters Series tournament held in Madrid.

Having no luck there, the team participated in the qualifiers for the World Championship, but failed to qualify for it. Shortly after that it was announced about N4RRATE's transfer to Sentinels team, where he is now.

Whether N4RRATE will be able to prove himself on the American scene as well as on the European one, we will find out next year.

Liang “Lysoar” Youhao - Wolves Esports

The moment VALORANT appeared on the Chinese scene, FunPlus Phoenix club immediately announced the recruitment of their team. Among its first members was Liang “Lysoar” Youhao, who has been performing for it for almost two years.

Together with the Chinese team, Lysoar made his way through the FGC Valorant Invitational 2023: Act 1 and Act 2, finishing in 4th place, before getting the opportunity to compete for a slot at VALORANT Champions 2023. After a tough qualification where FunPlus Phoenix started from the loser's bracket, they still managed to qualify for the quals and qualify for the World Championships.

Despite their success on the Chinese stage, Lysoar was unable to prove themselves at the biggest tournament and finished in 14th place with the club. The year 2024, went the same way for the player, still playing for FPP, he did well on the regional scene, advancing with the team to major international tournaments such as VALORANT Masters Madrid 2024 and VALORANT Masters Shanghai 2024.

VALORANT Champions 2024 ended with the same 14th place, after which the club management decided on a reshuffle that affected Lysoar.

At the moment, it is known that Lysoar has become a part of Wolves Esports and is preparing for VCT 2025: China Kickoff with the team.

Na “Athan” Ha-jun - DRX

At the age of 17, Na “Athan” Ha-jun, was spotted by Korea's biggest team, T1. The player became part of their youth division and represented the team at WCG OPEN KR #1 and VALORANT Challengers 2023: Korea Split 1 - Open Qualifier. After coming one step away from winning the Korean qualifiers, the decision was made to disband the division.

The player then became part of KIDZONE, who defeated them in the same final qualifier, but their partnership did not last long, after losing at Split 2, the young Korean was a free agent.

In the middle of 2023, DRX invited the talented defender to join their youth division DRX Prospects. It is considered one of the strongest in the region and internationally. Prospects is a kind of academy for the development of young talents, with the possibility of their further transfer to the main squad or other top teams.

After that, the player was transferred to the main roster, but since he is under 18 years old, according to Riot rules, he is not allowed to play in the VCT and appeared only at off-season tournaments, where he showed high results, competing with the best teams in the world.

On October 30, Athan turned 18 years old and will be competing with DRX at VCT 2025: Pacific Kickoff in 2024.

Song “HYUNMIN” Hyun-min - DRX

In 2024, DRX acquired a couple of promising newcomers, including Song “HYUNMIN” Hyun-min. In 2022, the little known Terra Esports team participated in a series of tournaments organized by IGLeague for clubs from North America.

After several victories in series 1 and 2, the player was spotted by the famous Japanese organization Crest Gaming Zst. Although HYUNMIN was part of the team, he was not able to participate in the VALORANT Challengers Series for a long time due to his age. However, at off-season tournaments such as Predator League Japan 2024, he still managed to prove himself.

He spent the entire year of 2024 on the bench without making a single team appearance. Toward the end of the year, his contract expired and he was invited to the main roster of DRX, where he already showed impressive results.

Toward the end of the year, HYUNMIN and the team participated in several Off/Season tournaments, where they showed what the new roster had learned during that time. Soon enough, we will see HYUNMIN at his first VCT 2025: Pacific Kickoff.

Cho “Flashback” Min-hyuk - DRX

Cho “Flashback” Min-hyuk is a Valorant professional scene player from South Korea representing the DRX team. Born on November 15, 2005, he started his journey in Valorant, showing outstanding playing skills from an early age.

Min-hyuk first caught the eye on the DRX Prospects Academic Team in July 2023. His talent and potential was quickly noticed, and he was promoted to the DRX main roster as early as December 2023, replacing Stax. Despite his young age, Flashback became a key player for the team, demonstrating his ability to handle high pressure and perform critical tasks.

In April 2024, Flashback temporarily left the DRX roster, which raised some questions about his stability. However, he returned as early as May 2024, emphasizing his determination and importance to the team. During his career, Min-hyuk has proven himself as a player with excellent game discipline and adaptability.

In 2024, the Flashback earned recognition in the APAC region by being ranked in the top 15 players by VALO2ASIA. This achievement confirms his status as a talented and promising player on the Valorant international scene.

He, along with the rest of the rookies on the team, will represent DRX in the 2025 season.

Papaphat “Primmie” Sriprapha - Talon Esports

Just recently, a new player appeared on the Valorant professional scene - Papaphat “Primmie” Sriprapha. He made his debut during the second stage playoffs of the VCT league, and immediately his play caught the attention of a large number of cybersports fans.

Papaphat “Primmie” Sriprapha is a 19-year-old player in Valorant. Despite his young age, he has already made his VCT league debut for Talon Esports. This is his first experience at such a high level, as he has previously played for dash-2 and dash-3 level teams in Thailand without achieving significant results. Primmie owes his opportunity to play for Talon Esports to his high mechanical skill, which he demonstrated in ranked mode.

Primmie, an up-and-coming player in Valorant, joined Talon Esports in 2023. However, his participation in tournaments caused controversy as Riot Games allowed the team to make substitutions during tournaments rather than between tournaments, which displeased a portion of the audience.

Perhaps because of these circumstances, Primmie was unable to show his full potential at tournaments in 2023. However, the exact reasons for his absence at major tournaments this year are not in public sources.

For now, the player continues to represent Talon Esports on both the regional and possibly international stages.

Dastan “dos9” Zhumagali BOOM Esports

Dastan “dos9” Zhumagali is a professional Valorant player from Kazakhstan who is rapidly growing in his cybersports career. Born on June 3, 2004, he has already become a prominent figure in the Southeast Asian region. At the moment dos9 plays for BOOM Esports team, which he joined in October 2024.

Dastan has previously played for AEX-1 and Revenant Esports, with whom he has achieved significant success, including winning the VALORANT Challengers 2024: South Asia Split 2 and competing in the VCT Ascension Pacific. His total tournament earnings are around $8,158.

Dos9 is known for his prowess playing for agents of control such as Omen, Brimstone, and Astra. His contributions helped BOOM Esports to a first place finish at Predator League Indonesia 2025, confirming the team's status as one of the best in the region.

Dastan continues to deliver consistent results and a high level of play, earning respect among Valorant's peers and fans.

Nicolás “mta” González - KRÜ Esports

Born in Chile, Nicolás “mta” González began his career with VALOARNT at the end of 2022. In the beginning, the Chilean played for a few obscure clubs that participated in SENIOR OF VALORANT and Rainbow Energy League (C-tier) tournaments before being noticed by Furious Gaming.

As a member of FG, mta first tried his hand at a tournament from Riot, placing 6th at VALORANT Challengers 2023: LAS Split 1 and 3rd at VALORANT Challengers 2023: LAS Split 2, thanks to his outstanding duelist play. However, after the failure, the team broke up and mta had to play in several random lineups after which his talent was noticed by KRÜ Esports.

Since the end of 2023, Nicolás has regularly participated in almost all tournaments, S-tier scene. His journey on the big stage started with VCT 2024: Americas Kickoff, where he and his then squad placed 9th, which despite the poor result was a huge achievement for the young talent.

After this defeat, the management decided to make some minor changes for VCT 2024: Americas Stage 1 and despite his merits mta was replaced and appeared on the VCT stage only on Stage 2. After an arduous journey, during the season, mta was able to reach his first VALORANT Championships and prove himself on the international stage.

Mta continues his career with KRÜ Esports and is preparing with the team for the upcoming challenges of the 2025 season.

Chae “yoman” Young-mun - Gen.G Esports

Chae Young-mun, known by his gaming alias “yoman”, is a professional VALORANT player from South Korea born on July 11, 1996. He joined Gen.G Esports in October 2024, where he is an active player. Prior to this yoman has represented teams such as Nongshim RedForce, Rare Atom and Shadow Corporation. His total earnings from tournaments is around $20,260.

Yoman is known for his prowess playing as Sova, Fade, and Skye agents, performing well at various tournaments. Some of the most notable achievements in his career include winning the VCT 2023 Korea Stage 1 Challengers, where his team took first place, securing an international entry. Winning the VCT 2023 Korea Stage 1 Challengers, where his team placed first, securing entry to the international level. And a second place finish at the VCT 2024 Korea Challengers Playoffs, confirming his status as one of the region's most versatile players.

As of this writing, yoman is on the Gen.G Esports team.

Conclusion

In recent years, the professional VALORANT scene has given us a lot of promising newcomers. Many of them have already managed to prove themselves at the largest tournaments of the VCT series, some of them are just getting used to it, but each of them can become a world-class star in the future. Very soon, Season 5 awaits us, which will give us new heroes, follow the events at the VCT tournaments together with our portal Bo3.gg.