Fnatic’s VALORANT star Leo Janesson, Dot Esports’ choice for VCT LOCK//IN São Paulo MVP, was a force to be reckoned with throughout the entire $500,000 tournament. One outstanding stat flew under the radar even after the tournament was over, and it’s Leo’s capability of not conceding opening frags.
Leo didn’t concede a first death in all of the three first matches Fnatic played at VCT LOCK//IN, in which they faced Sentinels, FURIA, and 100 Thieves. The Sova main only got his first death in match number four against Natus Vincere, after he played a total of 160 rounds at VCT LOCK//IN.
In the grand finals versus LOUD, Leo conceded six first deaths, five of them coming in the last three maps of the best-of-five series, in which FNATIC took down the Brazilians 3-2 to lift the trophy of the first VALORANT tournament featuring all 30 franchised teams.
As noted by analyst Yinsu Collins, Leo finished the tournament with 15 opening frags and just seven first deaths. The 19-year-old was one of the most dominant players of VCT LOCK//IN, having excelled in this stat and in many others. Leo had the third-highest K/D ratio (1.41) of the tournament, tied for sixth highest kill-assist-survive-trade (KAST) percentage (81 percent), and won more clutches than anyone in the event with 13 in total, according to VLR.gg.
Fnatic’s in-game leader Boaster commented on Yinsu’s Twitter thread that he died for Leo, hinting that he wanted Leo to stay alive and play in late-round situations. This strat arguably worked well for Fnatic, as they not only won the tournament, but Leo was also the pro who died the second least amount of times per round. He was cautiously left alive to play in many late rounds and helped push Fnatic over the line.
All eyes will be on Fnatic and Leo as they head to EMEA League at the end of March with the status of No.1 team and player in international VALORANT, respectively, at the moment.
