5 Best Valorant Sova Players of 2023

Here are the best Valorant Sova players of the 2023 VCT Season

Sova, once the most dominant Initiator Agent, has now been shadowed by Skye in the meta. However, similar to previous years, we have seen some incredible players dominate with this character in the 2023 VCT Season.

Unlike Duelists like Jett or Raze, a good Sova player is not determined by kills alone. It’s the highly impactful utilities that set the greats apart. However, this method of picking the best players can be subjective, and the best way to find our selection is through VLR, Valorant’s third-party stats tracker. 

After looking at the best 2023 VCT players, we chose the ones who primarily played Sova this season and participated in at least 750 rounds. 

5. Corbin “C0M” Lee – Evil Geniuses

• VLR Rating: 1.04
• Average Combat Score (ACS): 185.5
• Kill-Death Ratio: 1.01
• Kill/Assist/Survived/Traded: 73%
• Average Damage Per Round: 122.1
• Headshot Percentage: 21%

Evil Geniuses won the Champions this year, and behind their incredible victory, C0M’s contribution was more than significant. He is one of the two Initiators in the team alongside Ethan “Ethan” Arnold, and while his teammate mostly plays Skye, this 23-year-old shows his skills on Sova.

At Masters Tokyo, C0M’s Sova pick on Fracture was an unorthodox choice since no other team played that Agent on the particular map. However, EG’s well-planned teamplay and C0M’s unmatched skill with the Initiator made them unstoppable on Fracture. 

C0M’s signature skill with Sova is his usage of the ultimate ability, where he almost never misses a kill. This proves his ability to read the map and the opposition’s movement. Moreover, the North American player also made his name at Champions through unbelievable clutches.

4. Agustin “nzr” Ibarra – Leviatán

• VLR Rating: 1.06
• Average Combat Score (ACS): 187.2
• Kill-Death Ratio: 1.06
• Kill/Assist/Survived/Traded: 77%
• Average Damage Per Round: 122.6
• Headshot Percentage: 20%

Even though Leviatán failed to compete in the Masters and Champions this year, their Argentinian member nzr, formerly Nozwerr, had incredible impacts on Sova. This 25-year-old previously played for FURIA and joined Leviatán late last year. From there, he quickly became a valuable member of the team as his Initiator skills were on full display during VCT Americas.

The Argentinian’s consistency was one of the primary strength factors for the team, and while he is a flex player, he mostly was in the role of Sova during VCT Americas. Sadly, even after making it to the Playoffs of the Americas League, the squad failed to secure any global events except for LOCK//IN.

3. Austin “crashies” Roberts – NRG

• VLR Rating: 1.08
• Average Combat Score (ACS): 194.5
• Kill-Death Ratio: 1.06
• Kill/Assist/Survived/Traded: 77%
• Average Damage Per Round: 128.0
• Headshot Percentage: 27%

From his time with OpTic, crashies has been one of the best Sova players we have seen, not only in North America but the entire world. He continued his role of playing Initiator with NRG this year and provided unmatched value. Even though NRG didn’t have as good of a season as the previous OpTic core, crashies’ form was commendable throughout the year.

What makes crashies one of the best Sova players in the world is his awareness. The 25-year-old utilizes his abilities at perfect timings, resulting in easy kills for his team. Along with his excellent shock dart usage, he is another Sova player who doesn’t miss with his ultimate, always getting one or even two kills with the Hunter’s Fury.

2. Kirill “Cloud” Nehozhin – Giants Gaming

• VLR Rating: 1.08
• Average Combat Score (ACS): 216.0
• Kill-Death Ratio: 1.06
• Kill/Assist/Survived/Traded: 74%
• Average Damage Per Round: 141.8
• Headshot Percentage: 29%

Credit: Riot Games

Cloud is a flex player for Giants, who primarily used Sova during this year’s VCT season. Even though the team didn’t have monumental achievements this year except for winning the EMEA LCQ, this Russian player’s prowess with the Agent has landed him on the second spot of this list. 

The 19-year-old was a NAVI member before joining Giants late last year, and he quickly became a valuable member of the squad during the team’s journey as a franchised roster. He proved his excellence in the first global match he played with the team at LOCK//IN against DetonatioN FocusMe, where he dominated on Sova with a 42-21 K-D in a 2-0 series. Cloud’s consistency was one of the most critical factors of him being so high up in this list.

1. Leo “Leo” Jannesson – Fnatic

• VLR Rating: 1.24
• Average Combat Score (ACS): 209.7
• Kill-Death Ratio: 1.38
• Kill/Assist/Survived/Traded: 82%
• Average Damage Per Round: 135.0
• Headshot Percentage: 21%

Fnatic’s Leo is the best Sova player in the world in 2023. In fact, he is one of the best players in any role this year. The Swedish contributed to Fnatic’s dominant run, as his impact with Sova allowed the European squad to win two out of three global events. 

After joining Fnatic late last year, Leo was supposed to be in the shadows of big names like Nikita “Derke” Sirmitev and Timofey “Chronicle” Khromov. However, that’s not what happened, as the former Guild player proved his worth by helping Fnatic reach the top of the competition. 

Right from LOCK//IN, Leo started to dominate with his new teammates, becoming the MVP of the entire tournament as Fnatic lifted the trophy. Moreover, while teammate Emir “Alfajer” Beder was the MVP of the second global tournament at Masters Tokyo, Leo was the second-best player of the event. Lastly, he also had incredible moments at Champions 2023, especially the team’s last match versus LOUD. With such incredible form, he became our second-best player of the Champions. Such consistency in all global events this year has made him the best player of 2023.