Masters Berlin was one heck of an event that was full of glorious victories and heart wrenching defeats. There were absolute stomps and surprising comebacks aplenty. This game is as serious as any sport and has definitely become such at a pro level where hundreds of thousands of dollars are on the line. Besides that, there’s also regional pride to consider. Players, coaches, managers, and fans alike put their heart and soul into the game and it’s amazing to see the results of such passion and hard work come to life. 

But hey, life isn’t just all about grinding! Sometimes you’ve got to sprinkle a bit of good humor into the mix and variety is the spice of life.

Just like before, we here at Runitback have come up with a less serious version of our awards for Masters Berlin. As always, we used our amazing analytical platform to determine who wins out. Some of the stats we found ended up being very interesting and pretty surprising. A few of the awards have returned, but we also selected some new ones to keep things fresh. So if you’re curious then read on to find more! Just remember: It’s all in good fun! 

Friendly Fire

In CSGO and most other tactical shooter games, teamkilling by accident can be a somewhat frequent occurrence. In VALORANT, this is much less of a problem since hurting a teammate can only be done through utility and not with normal weapons. At the pro-level TKing is almost unheard of. After all, teams are so much more coordinated on where they’re firing their Agent abilities and players have an almost instinctual understanding of good positioning. There’s absolutely no way teams this good would fall victim to this…

…right? 

100 Thieves’ veteran Spencer “Hiko” Martin has been known for some phenomenal clutches throughout the entire tournament and has proven time and time again that he can be the deadliest person in the server. He’s so deadly that even his teammates have to watch out. Those Sova Shock Bolts and Hunters’ Fury beams can cause quite a bit of damage! Two teammates fell to Hiko’s utility. 

While 100T did go home after the NA civil war in the semifinals, Hiko will still have the honorary distinction of being the player with the most teamkills in Masters Berlin! Congrats! 

Bringing Knives to a Gunfight

The most mechanically demanding of agents in the whole game has her fair own share of dedicated disciples. Jett players can use her kit to pull out some jaw-dropping performances that can leave their opponents and the audience completely stunned. Throughout Masters Berlin, we’ve seen some of the best Jett players around the world compete against each other. It’s been a real treat to watch. Still, the debate on who the best Jett in the world is will still rage on.

In this tournament, we can at least give credit where credit is due to Nikita “d3ffo” Sudakov‘s strong use of her ultimate. He got over thirty-two kills with them, much more than anyone else in the tournament. 

If there’s any player who you could trust with a knife, it’s definitely him. 

Big Spender

That’s right, we’re bringing back the big spender award. Let’s face it, guns and abilities cost credits. At most, the only real hand out anyone gets is a classic and a single signature ability. You gotta spend money to win rounds and there’s no one who knows that more in this tournament than Olavo “heat” Marcelo, star player of Brazil’s very own Vivo Keyd! The man spent over a hundred thousand credits in a single match. This includes money given to him by his teammates for gun purchases. Those Operators don’t come cheap. But hey! With plays like this, we can say that heat is definitely well-worth the investment. 

Not only is he dripping with moolah, he also gets to take home the Big Spender award. Now that’s what you call stonks!  

Uncle Scrooge

Of course not every player is out there decked out with the flashiest equipment money can buy. Sometimes you just need a guy that can do the job with as little as possible and without any fuss. For this tournament at least, that guy is Gambit’s very own Timofey “Chronicle” Khromov. In a single match, he only spent over twenty-two thousand credits. That’s barely enough for five rifles! Never mind adding in the costs of abilities as well. Maybe he thinks it’s sometimes better to save all that extra cash for a rainy day. It’s not like we can really question his choices. After all, he did go on to become the champion of the whole tournament. 

Congrats to Chronicle for taking the Uncle Scrooge Award! Here’s to hoping that he doesn’t get haunted by the ghosts of Christmas a few months down the line.

Balls of Steel

This award was so amusing that we had to bring it back. Last time, it was Fnatic’s Jake “Boaster” Howlett that took home the prize after taking around around seventy-nine shots below the belt in Reykjavik. However, a new challenger stepped up to the plate and he took over *ten times* the punishment. 

You heard us right. Somehow, Nikita “d3ffo” Sudakov managed to take seven hundred shots down there. Men around the world can collectively wince in sympathy. Forget balls of steel, though. This man has balls of titanium and because of that, he’ll be receiving a second Nonsense Award! 

Conclusion

With that, our Nonsense awarding ceremony comes to a close. Hopefully you enjoyed it as much as the last one! Remember, we aren’t taking a stab at any player. This is all just to showcase our analytics and have a bit of fun with our favorite esport. Gambit players did end up snatching more than half of them. Not to worry! It’s just because they played more matches than the other teams. It’s natural to rack up numbers and stats due to that. 

Masters Berlin was a great tournament and things are only gonna get better from here. Champions is right around the corner! 

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