This VALORANT Pro Has Played a Single Agent the Whole VCT Americas Season

In a circuit where pros usually flex between multiple roles and agents, a VALORANT athlete is taking the 'one-trick' meme to another level. Let's explore which player has stuck with one Agent so far throughout VCT Americas 2025 and why.
This VALORANT pro has one-tricked through the entire first Stage of VCT Americas.
This VALORANT pro has one-tricked through the entire first Stage of VCT Americas. / Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games

VALORANT's Champion Tour (VCT) circuit challenges its competitors to the extreme. The international tournament, culminating in VALORANT Champions, crowns the best talent from every region. To make the cut, players usually spend countless hours practicing and gaining experience with different characters — but this year, a pro is sweeping VCT Americas with just one. Let's find out which VALORANT athlete has played the same Agent through the entire VCT Americas Stage 1 season, whether one-tricking is still viable in pro and what it means for the competition.

G2 trent Has Only Played Tejo for the Entire VCT Americas Stage 1 Season

Trent Cairns, more commonly known simply as his gamertag trent, is a pro player for the German organization G2 Esports. After joining G2 in 2023, he has become a rising star in the VALORANT scene. He is most well-known for his participation in VALORANT Masters Bangkok, where G2 faced off against T1 Esports in an intense matchup and ultimately placed second after five games and multiple overtimes. According to Liquipedia, this placement scored him over 100,000 USD just a year into his G2 contract.

trent is primarily an initiator player, meaning he gathers information for his team and opens up space so duelists can push. In previous years, he commonly played Sova who is a meta pick on maps like Haven and Ascent.

On January 8 2025, VALORANT revolutionized the Initiator meta by releasing Colombian Agent Tejo. The character was overpowered upon release and quickly skyrocketed to a high win rate. Many pros swapped to Tejo following his introduction, but it seems trent especially took a liking to him.

While trent still played Sova in several games during Masters Bangkok and the VCT Americas Kickoff in January and February, he began mixing Tejo into his selection on maps like Lotus, Haven, Fracture and Split. Fans first took notice after spotting G2's unorthodox team comp in Masters Bangkok with trent's Tejo and jawgemo's Yoru — many praised it. Still, others speculated on whether a more conventional setup would have secured a G2 win. G2 and T1's Masters Bangkok comps played a large role in influencing the following Act's competitive meta, sparking a renaissance of Yoru mains and reaffirming Tejo's effectiveness at all ranks.

On March 2 2025, trent stopped playing Sova entirely. Later on March 22, VCT Americas Stage 1 began. As of May 6 2025, trent has only played Tejo throughout the entire VCT Americas Stage 1 season and has not touched another Agent in over two months. This marks one of the most significant cases of 'one-tricking' from a VALORANT pro in recent esports history.

Related Article: VALORANT Mobile is Real and Coming Soon, but Not for You

Is G2 trent Actually a One-Trick?

Most one-trick players have a difficult time playing any characters other than the one they specialize in. Since trent has plenty of experience playing Sova and other initiators, and generally performs well on them, he is not technically a 'one-trick'. However, players could say he is 'one-tricking' by playing a single agent for so long.

Why Tejo?

Intelligence operative Tejo is VALORANT's newest Sentinel.
Tejo has popped off in the 2025 VALORANT pro scene. / Riot Games

When Tejo was first introduced, his kit offered a massive deviation from existing Initiator options. Almost everything other Initiators could do, he could do better: his drone has better stealth than Sova, his post-plant util is easier and more consistent than Breach, and he generally has a stronger Ultimate. Originally, Tejo's Guided Salvo drones could fully break a Killjoy Ultimate remotely and even destroy some Cypher trips, making him a phenomenal counter for the most popular Sentinels.

VALORANT has since removed the Killjoy ultimate mechanic and nerfed Tejo in Patch 10.05. According to the stat-tracking site tracker.gg, his win rate in Ascendant and Immortal now hovers around 49%. However, even after these nerfs, Tejo's kit remains valuable by nature since it frees him up to be more aggressive and maintain more map space than other picks. Unlike Skye and Breach, he doesn't have to be physically close to his team to provide value. He can send Guided Salvos during a push while holding mid, or play post-plant from unexpected locations. It makes sense that pro players with a more thorough understanding of theory and map control can better capitalize on these strengths, so Tejo remains extremely viable in high-level tournaments.

Is One-Tricking Bad?

A massive stigma exists against one-tricks (players who only use one Agent) in VALORANT. Part of this stems from the game's team-based nature, which requires players to adapt and fill in for spots where their teammates may be weak. However, one-tricking is a very different mechanic in regular Ranked and pro play.

In Ranked, every game contains an entirely new team. This means players cannot predict or trust which Agents their teammates will pick. In addition, teams depend on an even Agent class distribution to function correctly. Every VALORANT player knows the pain of a Reyna insta-lock who snatches Duelist, so no one else can play the role or an all-duelist team that crushes the attack but can't hold down defense. It's undeniably far easier to rank up if you play more than one Agent and more than one class (for example, Sentinel and Controller).

Pro play offers a bit more flexibility with one-trick picks. Teams usually decide team comps for each map beforehand, so every player on a roster knows which Agent they will pick ahead of the match. Plus, VALORANT's competitive tournaments do not contain any Agent ban mechanics, so there are no obstacles to selecting the same one every time. There are still disadvantages to one-tricking in pro — for instance, different Agents have higher performance caps on different maps regardless of the player's skill level — but it is generally easier.

What's Next for trent (and Tejo)?

VCT Americas Stage 1 ended on May 4 2025, and Stage 2 is set to begin on July 18. Since G2 Esports placed first in Stage 1 overall, trent will also progress to VCT Masters Toronto and compete there beginning June 7 2025. The VCT Americas teams with the most Champions Points will qualify for VALORANT Champions, the title's most prestigious international event. G2 Esports is currently in the lead, so they are likely to appear if they maintain strong performances. The winning teams from Masters Toronto will also secure a spot. This means G2 has two chances to qualify for VALORANT Champions 2025.

Related Article: How to Gift Skins in VALORANT

Overall, G2 has entered VALORANT's 2025 competitive season with a promising show. 2023 VALORANT Champions winner jawgemo has crushed the competition as a duelist, and valyn is proving a reliable IGL. Though the team ultimately lost Masters Bangkok to T1, the matchup was extremely close and proved G2 is a fierce competitor. It doesn't seem like Trent's Tejo loyalty has affected the team's performance; if anything, his plays have strongly contributed to their success. As the VCT pressure rises, it's uncertain if trent will continue playing only Tejo during his VCT Americas Stage 2 matches. If he does, he could reach a record-breaking streak.

G2 fans do have higher expectations for trent as his Tejo-main repute grows. Sticking to one Agent pick leaves less flexibility for his teammates and makes him more responsible for carrying. If trent impresses in VCT Americas while only selecting Tejo the entire time, he will make VALORANT history — but if he fumbles, the community may wonder if G2's lost matches are too high a price to pay for the meme.

feed


Published