5 best Valorant pros who played Astra in VCT 2023

Astra comes under the Controller category of Valorant's Agents. Her abilities block enemy site lines, concuss enemies, and make them vulnerable, making her a great secondary Sentinel.

Last year, Astra was hit with many balancing nerfs, which significantly decreased her pick rate but allowed for some experimentation in team compositions. Despite the nerfs, she found her place in certain maps like Haven and Pearl and was effectively used by some pro players in Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) 2023.

Here's a list of five pros who mastered Astra in VCT 2023.

Note: This list is subjective and reflects the writer's opinions.

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Monyet, mindfreak, and three more Valorant pros who destroyed everyone with Astra in VCT 2023

1) mindfreak

mindfreak at Masters Tokyo (Image via flickr)

Aaron "mindfreak" Leonhart is an Indonesian esports player who plays for Paper Rex. He has mainly filled in as the Controller for his team but also played as the Sentinel, Cypher, in the past.

Last year, mindfreak was regarded as one of the best Controller players in Valorant and had some of the highest clutch stats. He continued that level of reputation heading into VCT 2023.

mindfreak picked Astra for 46.6% of all his matches and got an average combat score (ACS) of 169.4. His intelligent smoke plays have led to numerous clutches and site holds, leading toward a huge advantage for his team.

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2) Monyet

Monyet at LOCK//IN (Image via flickr)

Indonesian esports player Cahya "Monyet" Nugraha plays for Paper Rex. He has fulfilled the role of a Controller player for his team but has also played as the Duelist, Raze, in the past.

With his former team, Global Esports, Monyet finally got to compete in the highest level of Valorant esports. Despite his shift from a Duelist to a Controller, he brought in the same level of aggression in his performance and would put up huge numbers on the scoreboard.

Monyet's record-breaking kills and consistency in every match made him one of the top players in the VCT Pacific League. He picked Astra for 46.2% of his matches and secured an ACS of 222.0 with the Agent.

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3) Boaster

Boaster at Masters Tokyo (Image via flickr)

Jake "Boaster" Howlett is an esports player from the United Kingdom who plays for Fnatic. He's the IGL (in-game leader) and fulfills the role of a Controller most of the time.

In VCT 2023, Boaster got himself a superteam and won two international trophies back-to-back. While this was an incredible achievement, his improved mechanical skills were also notable.

With a powerhouse of players like those in Fnatic, Boaster was the one to clutch out many rounds in the most tense situations. His shot calling was perfect, and his utility usage was always on point. He played Astra for 34.5% of his matches and got an ACS of 175.7.

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4) Shao

Shao at Masters Tokyo (Image via flickr)

The non-country-representing esports player Andrey "Shao" Kiprsky plays for NAVI. He has played as many Agents in Valorant, like Fade, Omen, Astra, Sova, and even Killjoy, for his team, making him a very flexible player.

Shao continued to play with the FPX (FunPlus Phoenix) core coming into this, who were highly successful in Valorant's 2022 season. While VCT 2023 didn't lead to the same results for his team, Shao definitely put up a great performance throughout.

Astra was the second-highest-picked Agent for Shao with a pick rate of 20.0%, which got him an ACS of 197.4. With a passive Agent like Astra, Shao could still make some well-thought-out micro plays and would come out on top of all his duels. His utility would always perfectly set up others, and he could even clutch some of the most impossible-looking rounds for his team.

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5) Demon1

Demon1 at Valorant Champions 2023 (Image via flickr)

Max "Demon1" Mazanov is an American esports player who plays for Evil Geniuses. He has played multiple roles for his team, ranging from the Duelist, Jett, to the Controllers, Brimstone and Reyna, to even the Sentinel, Chamber.

Demon1's journey in VCT 2023 was one of the most inspirational ones. He started out as a rookie on the roster from open tryouts and became World Champions toward the end of the year.

While Demon1 was very much known for his Jett plays in Valorant, his insane mechanical talent would translate to other Agents and would get a high amount of impact for his team. He played as Asta towards the second half of VCT 2023, which was only 7.5% in the past year, but secured himself an ACS of 233.8.