Will the REAL vibes merchants in VALORANT please stand up?

VALORANT esports has always had its fair share of fun personalities on stage, from former Paper Rex player Benedict “Benkai” Tan Tze Yang cosplaying for walkouts to Fnatic’s franchise player Jake “Boaster” Howlett hitting Kpop moves on stage — literally dancing on the competition. These kinds of players are nothing new, but in the past couple years, the competitive value of these kinds of players has become clear. 

They aren’t just fun to have around: for many teams, their vibes merchant has become a staple.

The Rise Of The Vibes Merchant in VALORANT

Players who bring the vibes do more than just appeal to fans — they build morale for their team in high pressure situations. Whether it’s standing up to scream across the stage after a big clutch or making a joke in the chat to keep everyone’s spirits up, they make sure everyone’s mental stays strong. 

One of the most notable “vibes merchants” in VALORANT is SEN Jordan “Zellsis” Montemurro. While Sentinels is lousy with shooting talent like Zachary “Zekken” Patrone, Sean “Bang” Bezerra, and Mohamed “JohnQT” Ouarid, Zellsis contributes through emotional leadership.

In the voice chat, he’s the guy hyping everyone up, encouraging them to lock-in, and calling the team out at half time when the team dynamic goes sideways. On the stage, he makes his presence known as the first to stand up and yell at the other team, giving his team that extra confidence to push through.

While Zellsis is the most notable blueprint, he’s not even the first to become known for his on-stage antics. Zheng “ZMjjKK” Yongkang, the duelist for EDG, loves to stand up on stage and show his confidence to the other team — and his own. Other notable examples include the previously mentioned FNC Boaster, TH Benjy “Benjyfishy” Fish, PRX Jason “F0rsaken” Susanto, and the rising IGL of Wolves Pong “SIufatBB” Ka-hei — who brought big energy to Masters Toronto, turning himself into a no-name player to a star in a matter of only a few matches. 

The rising tide of vibes guys even prompted G2 to add Andrej “babybay” Francisty to their roster as Nathan “Leaf” Orf was forced to step away for health reasons. While babybay hasn’t competed professionally in years, he has not only managed to contribute on the scoreboard, he has made a notable difference in the morale of his team.

Josh “JoshRT” Lee discussed the acquisition of babybay in an interview with Pedro Romero, noting that part of babybay’s role is to stand up, get rowdy, and be that emotional contributor that the team needs in these stressful matches.

“When we win a big round, where’s our celebration? How do you make them crumble mentally?” he said. “It was very easy to be resilient, honestly, if you have a high belief in yourself and you are an underdog, ‘You’re like screw everybody, we can beat them.’ But now the tables have turned, and we are more expected to win. That’s a whole new set of mental battles to go through.

“We are getting better at that front. The most obvious is the impact babybay has brought to the team.”

It’s an FPS game, so obviously winning is mostly about landing your shots and bringing the right tactics. But the emotional side of the game is also very real. When you look at teams who have won tournaments in the past couple years — Sentinels, Paper Rex, EDG — what they all share is that they are not afraid to show up and have fun.

In fact, increasingly, that seems like an essential component in teams finding their way to the top.