Top 5 community-voted plays of VCT LOCK//IN

The announcement of VCT LOCK//IN came with a bit of controversy. Fans and pros alike were not too excited about the format and lengthy tournament. It's safe to say those negatives expectations were shattered. This event delivered dreams coming true, heartbreaking losses, and top plays that made VCT LOCK//IN like no other competitive VALORANT tournament.

The 2023 kickoff competition in Brazil had the community in a positive frenzy. Every match was a spectacle to behold as the community backed their favorite teams. And this is why esports.gg took to r/ValorantCompetitive to get their thoughts. We asked the community to submit and upvote what they believe are the top plays of VCT LOCK//IN.

Note: The plays are listed in order from five to one in terms of upvotes on the Reddit post at the time of writing. If a user submitted more than one play in their comment, the first play they mentioned was the play chosen, except in situations where the play may have involved a player already receiving a spot on this list.

Starting off the top plays from VCT LOCK//IN is a clutch by none other than Pujan "FNS" Mehta. The NRG IGL has proven time and time again that he still has what it takes in the thick of it. As you can see in the video from the official VALORANT Champions Tour YouTube channel, FNS stays calm through the entire scenario.

The play was submitted by AnAngryBird and shows why NRG remains one of the top teams in competitive VALORANT. Listen to the in-game communication from his team and Giants Gaming as he navigates an opposing Viper's Pit, plants the spike, and positions himself perfectly for a round-winner.

Fourth on the list belongs to Emir "Alfajer" Beder in the Grand Final versus LOUD. FNATIC would go on to win in overtime and cement their legacy with a championship. Submitted by Immediate-Zebra-944, this top play from VCT LOCK//IN is more about the hype than the skill involved.

Both teams were one round away from match and series point. FNATIC managed to plant the Spike, but LOUD knocked them down to just one player. Alfajer had to stand his ground as LOUD pushed him near Yellow. They rounded the corner of the giant box only for Alfajer to open fire and earn the clutch with two easy headshots.

The Yellow location on Icebox seems to be a popular spot to clutch up or make massive plays from. Another example of that is shown by Sam "s0m" Oh. NRG's Controller player had an incredible coming out tournament at VCT LOCK//IN, proving himself with one of the top plays in his team's first series.

A user by the name of CruelGMS suggested this play. KOI were up heavily, but s0m came through with a 5k to enact the 9:3 curse. He moved behind Yellow, catching his opponents off guard. Sage's Ultimate resurrected a fallen KOI player, but s0m was there to mow them all down.

The second best play of VCT LOCK//IN, according to r/ValorantCompetitive, comes from invinciblestandpoint. The eventual runners up in LOUD were at war, once again, with NRG. The rivalry versus the former OpTic Gaming core proved to be alive. New LOUD player Cauan "cauanzin" Pereira put himself directly in the middle of it.

This was the play that forced overtime and gave LOUD the ability to stay strong, eliminating NRG in a three-map banger. It came down to a 3v3, but LOUD quickly found themselves down in numbers. Every single kill in the clutch was through a wall. A headshot above, Breach's Aftershock, and another headshot to Defender Spawn saw the arena shake from the crowd's uproar.

With the most upvotes and submitted by vnNinja21, here is the top community-voted play from VCT LOCK//IN. It's only fitting that it belongs to the champions. FNATIC's first match against Sentinels was a surprisingly quick victory. Their second series against FURIA is where their championship mettle would truly be tested.

Haven went to 34 rounds, but Round 5 is where Timofey "Chronicle" Khromov and Nikita "Derke" Sirmitev showcased how dangerous FNATIC can be. The pair caught one on their flank and quickly split up to bait FURIA. With timing and aim on their side, they dismantled all of FURIA one by one in a masterful display of VALORANT.

Thank you to everyone to who submitted a play or contributed to voting! Stick around to esports.gg for more esports news and VALORANT content as the 2023 VCT rolls on.