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Riot’s latest tactical first-person shooter Valorant has had one of the most successful closed beta releases for a shooter in a very long time.
The game has gotten so very popular that it has attracted CS: GO pros to its servers, and has even made some jump ship to pursue a career in this new game.
North America has seen a lot of CS: GO professionals leave an already established career to seek a new one in Valorant.
And on our list today, we cover the 5 best North American CS: GO pros who we feel are going to make it big in Valorant.
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5 CS: GO pros who can shine in Valorant
1. Tyson ‘TenZ’ Ngo
TenZ
Once a Cloud9 CS: GO star, TenZ has left that career behind to have a fresh start in Valorant. He has been playing the game a lot ever since the release of its closed beta, and he became the first player to reach the highest rank of Valorant in North America.
TenZ didn't find CS: GO as exciting as he used to, and he said that he feels Valorant is a much more satisfying experience. In an interview, he said:
“I've decided to go pro [in Valorant] because when I was playing the beta, I realized I haven't had as much fun as I was having in a long time. Although it might be seen as risky to switch games, I feel that the future of this game is very bright. I will no longer be playing CS: GO while I am playing Valorant professionally.”
TenZ brings all his years of CS: GO accuracy training and in-game strats to Valorant, and he has already managed to rack up a string of incredible highlight reels.
2. Braxton “Swag” Pierce
Brax
Swag or Brax was once hailed as one of the most promising CS: GO players in North America, and he was only 15 at that time.
However, his CS: GO career was cut short when he along with his teammates were caught in a match-fixing scam, and he copped a 5-year ban from Valve.
Valorant gives players like Brax a second chance at a professional career. His skills helped him to get drafted by T1 even before the Valorant closed beta was out.
3. Tyler "Skadoodle" Latham
Skadoodle
Skadoodle once made a name for himself as a CS: GO pro for Cloud9. However, he hung up those boots a long time ago, and turned his attention to full time streaming and creating content on some of the most popular shooters.
Skadoodle has streamed everything he got his hands on, from CS: GO and Fortnite, to Apex Legends and even Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. But lately, he has taken up Valorant, and what’s more is that he has even signed up with T1 to complete their 5-man roster with Brax.
Him coming out of retirement is quite good news for Valorant fans, as he will be bringing his years of competitive experience and strategies to the game.
4. Spencer “Hiko” Martin
Hiko
Hiko is one of the most celebrated CS: GO veterans to have ever touched the shooter from Valve. Hiko has played for 12 teams in a career that has spanned over 8 years, and he was part of prominent organisations like Cloud9, Team Liquid, and Rogue.
His popularity in the shooter allowed him to amass an incredible fan-base, who became quite excited when he announced that he would be retiring from CS: GO to make a career in Valorant.
On the 4th of June, two days after Valorant's official release, 100Thieves announced that Hiko will be joining their official roster when the eSports season finally starts.
5. Ryan “Freakazoid" Abadir
Freakazoid
Freakazoid had an incredibly long 10 year career in CS: GO, and he finally announced his retirement from the game on the 10th of May.
The 27-year-old veteran was known for playing in teams like Cloud9, Echo Fox, and Ghost Gaming, where he built up a big reputation and an even bigger fan-base.
However, unlike Hiko, Freakazoid did get a lot of criticism from fans for moving to a new game. But Abadir took to Twitter, to explain the situation by saying:
“Professional players frequently change their teams. How is it any different for gamers to change a game?”
