Mada? | VLR.gg

#1

Asto3

i need to figure out if i’m wrong for thinking this guy’s just an average player with some above-average games.

my impression in 2025 was that before stage 2 he was basically invisible, and during it, when he started showing up more, he was super inconsistent, even with a team that was consistently good.

feels like ethan, brawk, and skuba took way more pressure off and delivered more for nrg than mada did. even s0m clutched more at champions.

against tougher opponents, he just disappeared, and against weaker ones he’d go like +15 or something.

lots of people hype his aces, but those games were kinda like: mada does nothing for 6 rounds, then pops an ace, shines for 3 rounds, then vanishes again.

am i wrong? i’ll be watching his play more in 2026. but honestly, in the americas i don’t think he’s top 5 mechanically among duelists.

#2

shesh_

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honestly, not only do i not think he's top 5 in americas, i'd go as far as to say he's bottom 3 itw

#4

Asto3

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bottom 3 itw is crazy

strong claims coming from an nrg fan

#13

catNmouse

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that’s just sheshs gimmick

#27

shesh_

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yeah about as strong of a claim as a sen fan saying my CHAMPS WINNING duelist isn't even top 5 in his OWN region

#36

Asto3

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mechanically speaking, i don’t think i’m wrong. being a world champion doesn’t automatically make him better than everyone else, and he wasn’t the standout player on his team at champions.

Aspas, Zekken, Jawgemo, Sato and Oxy. i think these five are mechanically better duelists than him. is that really hard to understand, or is it because he’s a WORLD CHAMPION, in bold like you put it, that suddenly makes him better than all those guys?

#39

shrike-

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great, he is mechanically not top 5, but it's been long established that mechanics are only part of what makes a good duelist

everyone knows americas has insane mechanical talent, but being a general better duelist when it comes to entrying and game sense also helps

in this case, he is better than both sato and oxy

#42

Asto3

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read the thread again and you’ll see i’m talking ONLY about mechanical talent as a duelist.

but honestly, in the americas i don’t think he’s top 5 mechanically among duelists.

and even then, i don’t think mada is better than sato at anything. 2026 will prove that.

#50

shrike-

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2026 will prove that

so then you admit you have no argument other than “just watch” lol, a true vlr classic

read the thread again and you’ll see i’m talking ONLY about mechanical talent as a duelist

again, cool and great, and i’m arguing that who cares, mechanics are only part of the equation

#40

shesh_

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literally what the fuck are you talking about

i agree that the 5 players you've named are mechanically better

...so what???

that doesn't make them better players? sato is a choker. oxy is a choker. zekken and jawgemo were "basically invisible" at champs compared to mada. (aspas is better than him)

is your point only that he isn't better mechanically like you said in your post?

if yes, then i concede that you're correct, with the caveat that doesn't make them better players than him

the world champion stuff in bold was just to highlight how unbelievably moronic i think what you're saying is

#43

Asto3

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...so what???

i need to figure out if i’m wrong for thinking this guy’s just an average player with some above-average games.

am i wrong? i’ll be watching his play more in 2026.

again, reread the thread, it has all the information you need. also, calling sato a choker when he’s a rookie who only played stage 2 on a completely messy team and still had the insane performance he had is wild.

zekken and jawgemo were "basically invisible" at champs compared to mada.

absolutely nobody compared mada’s performance to jaw’s or zekken’s at champions and said he’s worse than them lol, you’re literally making up arguments about stuff i never even said

#45

shesh_

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am i wrong [for thinking this guy's just an average player]?

yes

there is more to being a duelist player than just mechanical skill

your post is intentionally taking the context out of the picture by limiting it to just one factor

i don't think it's fair to compare duelist players by just considering their mechanical skill

also, if you're defending sato by talking about his dysfunctional team, then why scrutinize pre-stage 2 mada in your original post at all? his situation was arguably worse, and he put up a handful of insane performances too.

you're right, i did make up arguments about stuff you never said, but that was only to see if you were actually only talking about mechanical skill, or if you'd even evaluate other arguments about player performance

i now see that you are, in which case:

i concede that you're correct, with the caveat that doesn't make them better players than [mada]

#48

Asto3

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i don't think it's fair to compare duelist players by just considering their mechanical skill

in my opinion this is one of the most important attributes in a duelist, his role is literally to kill. and no player is evaluated based on a single factor x of their role, a lot of things make a good duelist, game sense is one of them.

lso, if you're defending sato by talking about his dysfunctional team, then why scrutinize pre-stage 2 mada in your original post at all? his situation was arguably worse, and he put up a handful of insane performances too.

i’m only defending sato in this situation because it makes zero sense to call him a choker when he joined a terrible team as a rookie and was straight up an absurd hard carry, where leviatán could only win if he performed.

i’m curious, so for you mada is a top 3 duelist in the region?

#49

shesh_

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it depends on the context that i'd have to evaluate it through

if it's within the system that they're playing in (nrg), i think he's 2nd in americas and top 5 itw

if it's about just skill as a duelist, i think he's anywhere from 2-4 in americas, because even though he is inconsistent like you say, i feel like his inconsistency is a direct product of his role on nrg, and is never really the reason we lose (though we have only lost 3 series since stage 2, so i'm probably biased due to small sample size)

and if it's just raw mechanical skill like you're talking about, i'd like to put him in the top half but i don't think it's crazy to exclude him

it's just that i can't realistically see any value from just evaluating raw mechanical skill, since there are so many other factors to consider

his mechanics not being top 5 in his region evidently haven't been a hindrance to victory (yet), but i suppose we will just have to wait and see through 2026

#14

JohnBonzo

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this is racist

#3

BerLINglazer

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BerLIN better

#5

seven_glazer

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not even top 5 duelists in americas
aspas, dgzin, sato, oxy, jawgemo are better than him

i think hes on par with virtyy and keznit

and better than n4rrate and dante

#6

bobwoblob

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dgzin and oxy lmao

#11

Asto3

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i agree with that take, no idea why anyone’s surprised. if oxy was on nrg, he’d probably have even crazier performances than what he’s already shown in the vct

#16

foythvlr

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if oxy was in nrg he would've gone -10 in the first playoff match and eliminate them

#18

catNmouse

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with how nrg functions as a team, he really wouldn’t

#7

Prase

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You didn’t mention timotino because he is way above everyone’s league right? …right?

#8

seven_glazer

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Forgot about 100T tbh lmao

I think timmy got potential to be the next oxy

#21

Prase

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I find timotino more like jawg than oxy

#10

catNmouse

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keznit is better than jawgemo dgzin and oxy

#12

Asto3

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u can't be for real bro

#15

catNmouse

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jawgemo is not all that, oxy is as inconsistent when it comes to big games

#17

poiuu20

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diddyblud really saying kenit is better than those

#20

seven_glazer

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on a good day and good mental state, i might say hes even better than aspas

but as soon as he loses 1 map, hes out mentally

mada goes 0-11 one half then gets 2 aces in a row. I think ive never seen keznit doing that.

#34

JonahPork

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Mada is better than jawgemo

#35

shesh_

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sato vs mada when the year is on the line

https://www.vlr.gg/530908/nrg-vs-leviat-n-vct-2025-americas-stage-2-lr2

oxy vs mada when the year is on the line

https://www.vlr.gg/530911/nrg-vs-cloud9-vct-2025-americas-stage-2-lr3

dgGoat is unfortunately bait, but i love him

i'm ok with aspas and jawgemo

#9

poiuu20

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mada with israel buff gonna make him top 3 itw smh

#19

toidinami

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I think hes more consistent than most duelists with peaks that are just as high. Not saying hes a top 3 duelist or anything but I dont think hes overrated

#22

dimmed

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Mada is mid but I remember there was some delusion guy trying to say he top 5 itw

Edit: Ok I'm seeing a little too much Mada hate so I need to clarify, Mada does have an issue of starting slow and is quite inconsistent but at the same time, he is still a big part of the reason NRG are as cracked as they are. He's not just someone you can just replace, I'm pretty sure last time I did the stats Mada had the highest rate of first engagement out of all duelist in America's and probably all of VCT too (only comparison is maybe miniboo), like Mada's role of being such a hard entry for NRG is a major reason for inconsistency in kills.

#23

brams6663

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He's an above average duelist but he gets overrated because of his insane clips

#24

shrike-

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greatest duelist of all time

#25

cloudberry

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We're calling mada average? Yeah...

Someone lmk how many aces mada got last year, because I genuinely lost count

#28

dimmed

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Isn't their point that Mada is highly inconsistent, I don't think they are trying to deny Mada has a high peak?

#46

Asto3

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if the number of aces mattered more than all the other three hundred stats that get tracked, mada would be better than aspas, zekken, and jawgemo

i still think he had more average and mediocre games than above-average ones. he can improve, but i don’t think in 2025 he was this god some people try to make him sound like.

#26

StalwartTiger_35

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most aces in vct history as a rookie but ig he didnt exist before stage 2?

#29

AhhhYuhhh

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Mada is pretty good. He's gotta be at least the 5th best player on his team.

#30

Marii

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“Against tougher opponents he just disappeared”
https://www.vlr.gg/542272/nrg-vs-fnatic-valorant-champions-2025-gf/?game=233479&tab=overview
https://www.vlr.gg/542270/fnatic-vs-nrg-valorant-champions-2025-ubf/?game=233476&tab=overview
https://www.vlr.gg/542208/drx-vs-nrg-valorant-champions-2025-winners-c/?game=233434&tab=overview
https://www.vlr.gg/530907/nrg-vs-g2-esports-vct-2025-americas-stage-2-ubsf/?game=231364&tab=overview

#38

Asto3

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you specifically highlighting his performance on one map of a bo5 and one map of a bo3 just reinforces my argument about his inconsistency lol

in the bo5 against fnatic he only had a higher k/d than the team’s smokes and went negative on three maps. in the bo3 he ended with a 0 k/d gap, with the initiator, the igl, and the sentinel all getting more kills than him, etc etc.

no one’s saying he’s bad, i’m saying he’s inconsistent and not mechanically insane, from my point of view. he has his value as a duelist, but he’s not as impressive as some people try to make him look just because of the number of aces he has. maybe if he works on his consistency, he can become a more reliable duelist.

#41

toidinami

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Highest rated player in kickoff
Highest adr of any duelist in stage 1
Most fk per round stage 2

#44

Asto3

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https://www.vlr.gg/event/stats/2274/vct-2025-americas-kickoff

he played like half the rounds most players in the tournament did.

and the number 1 there is penny, not mada, because of the low round count. lol

https://www.vlr.gg/event/stats/2347/vct-2025-americas-stage-1

same thing in stage 1, he played almost 300 fewer rounds than the top 3 duelists at the finals of the region, which makes his stats look way more inflated because of the low round count.

and about stage 2, nobody is downplaying his performance.

i just don’t think he had any significant impact for nrg before stage 2.

#47

toidinami

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If by most people you mean 4 out of the 12 teams then sure... also thats clearly not his fault is it

#31

Nollihd07

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Mada and Me should breed to produce the tallest shittest valorant player.

#32

MrBlooBloom

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If you think he was invisible in americas before split 2 you pb just didn't watch americas

#33

espeon

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sen flairs getting bold these days

#37

gr1ef

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he made a deal with Netanyahu