How The Guard’s trent became NA Valorant’s new rising star

North America has had many top-tier players in the past two years with the likes of Tyson ‘TenZ’ Ngo and Peter ‘Asuna’ Mazuryk. This was evident since Sentinels and 100 Thieves were the region’s top teams in the first two years of the pro scene.

Over the past year, many players improved and caught up to the level of the two stars. While SEN truly held the best team in the world distinction after the Valorant Champions Tour 2021: Stage 2 Masters – Reykjavík, the rest of the Valorant scene saw what made them such a strong squad and improved on their model.

Gambit Esports, Acend, and Fnatic became the top teams in the world because they blended the signature NA aggression with the methodical playstyle that you expect from EMEA teams. This led to TenZ and Asuna going down in the pecking order and the other regions leapfrogging the NA region.

Since NA has not been at its best lately, it left room for new stars to blossom. Lo and behold, Trent ‘trent’ Cairns broke out alongside his The Guard teammates and became the best team in NA. They became the surprise choice in the esports casino because they managed to reach the top level of the Valorant scene. Now, let’s look at what makes trent such a strong player and the new star in the NA region.

He is an explosive star in an unassuming role

In Valorant, there are four general roles which are Sentinels, Controllers, Duelists, and Initiators. The fourth one is usually seen as the main support role because they use their utility to create space for their opponents. With the agent pool available to the initiators, you can truly see that they are space creators because you have Breach, KAY/O, Skye, and Sova.

For The Guard, trent has been a standout in the Initiator role which is surprising since most teams put their in-game leader in the Sova player’s hands. Trent has been the outlier for this because he has been a fragger for The Guard and he still uses his utility properly. Finding the right balance between being a fragger and support is challenging but trent makes it look easy with how he plays Sova, Breach, and Skye.

Trent has proven he can still grow

As he only entered the Valorant pro scene in mid-2021, trent was playing in small events in NA. Those are minor events with lesser-known players but trent managed to create waves for himself in the ranked matchmaking ladder.

He made enough waves to get a trial with The Guard and he managed to secure that spot when the organisation realised that they have a star in their hands with trent. He only joined in January 2022 but he has already made a huge impact on the NA region as he helped The Guard become the best team in the region. Trent is still young and relatively new to Valorant which means that he will have enough room to grow as a star player.

He is the focal point of The Guard’s system

While he is an initiator, The Guard recognises that trent is arguably their best player. Most people would point to the duelist Ha ‘Sayaplayer’ Jung-Woo as the flashiest player on the team and while he is explosive, trent has been the undisputed star on the team. They all work together well but most pundits and pro players will agree that trent is the focal point of The Guard’s system.

If you are looking for a player who has truly burst onto the scene and became a star almost immediately, trent is the best recent example. The Guard‘s success can be largely attributed to when trent joined but he enables the rest of the team to thrive as well. We are barely a year into trent’s Valorant career and almost everyone can tell that he’s the new star on the block. Hopefully, this can be reflected in the esports casino odds because The Guard will most likely be a top contender in NA for a long while.

Roger Griffith

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