How Valorant's Sneakiest Superstar Ratted His Way to a World Title

Rats are one of the more controversial animals that inhabit our planet.
They get between walls, chew wires, spread the plague. Not a great rap. The word alone has become a universal insult, synonymous with shameful traits like dishonesty and cowardice.
And in esports it's also been used to disparagingly describe dubious yet highly effective strategies.
Rats hide in corners, lurk in the shadows, sneak up behind their unsuspecting victims - and just about everyone hates them.
The truth is that there's nothing inherently wrong about playing like a rat. It’s not cheating, it’s just annoying to deal with.
But rats are far more than just a pain in the ass - they're psychological weapons. Nuisances capable of creating paranoia and a creeping sense of uncertainty through their unpredictable positioning and their mastery of timing.
In recent years, we've seen the rat-inspired lurker role become less prevalent in CS:GO, thanks to the game’s growing emphasis on big brain executes over sneaky cheesy individual outplays. But in Valorant, where there are only so many lineups and post plants you can pull off, things are a little different.
And, of all the sneaky beakies frequenting Valorant's servers, none have reached the lurking heights of Ayaz “nAts” Akhmetshin. The insanely talented Sentinel player for Gambit Esports, who has proven himself to be the game's one true rodent king.
Produced & Hosted by: Dimitri Pascaluta (@DPascaluta)
Written by: Devin Coull (@Fake_DevinCoull)
Edited by: Brendan Fahey (@Drillbit_)
Produced by: Miles Hackett (@miles_hackett)
Production assistance by: Jason Lo (@JasonLobsterr) & Nic Buck
Thumbnail by: Bennett Grainger
Footage Credits: pastebin.com/G...
Music used under license from Associated Production Music LLC (”APM”).
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[@crosshair8989]

I met nAts once in my hometown, he just appeared behind me and was beating this guy into a pulp, turns out the guy was trying to mug me but nAts sneaked up on him first, I said thank you and he said no problem and just bunnyhopped away. still can't forget it until this day.

[@dalanding3391]

Man, what a life changing story to hear

[@hellvengtfo]

Lmao

[@Trauumz]

Is this real?

[@sean8439]

@@Trauumz yes. It happened to my good friend eric as well.

[@SubaIicious]

@@sean8439 no way! nAts saved my fiancée a couple years back too! Man, this guys a hero

[@ArJayDM]

"Go play VCT" "No, no, I already won VCT" DAMN.

[@jayred2001]

Anime level flex😂

[@zxrczxrczxrc]

ZAMN😍

[@nuggetz9380]

@@zxrczxrczxrc ZAMN😍

[@enexivity6377]

@@nuggetz9380 ZAMN😍

[@4twenny]

@@enexivity6377 ZAMN😍

[@marcomodestoleal9450]

I love how he nearly aces a pistol round, and his teammates compliment him, telling him to go and play VCT, and he answers: "I allready won VCT" and they take it as a joke... ITS NOT

[@teogocrzy6066]

Shoulda talked abt his personal life a bit more. Most would be surprised to hear that besides him being goated, he’s literally a full time law school student.

[@bnto8788]

damn what the hell i can barely play valorant as a communication major

[@alexandralynn186]

what the fuck

[@bogdankowalski7132]

no wonder he is so emotionless lmao. All his stress is focused on school work

[@marenderu496]

@@bogdankowalski7132 valorant is his stress relief but his stress is so high that valorant won't make him flinch

[@childishsadbino3154]

no shit. he already flanking succesful life xD

[@kushkamble2027]

6:10 Go play VCT u sweaty Team: yeah he already won

[@nuggetz9380]

thx for timestamp

[@MikoTactical]

Just watched a stream of this guy… 3-4K nearly every round. Dude is cracked.

[@joetheseventeenth]

his play style is especially effective in ranked. people arent patient enough and he capitalizes off of it

[@Lathra10]

@@joetheseventeenth yea sure, man just won the vct having one of the most impactful play and that Play style is only viable on rank? Lmao

[@r.i.pfilthyfrank9835]

@@Lathra10 he said its specifically effective in rank due to the above reason. And that's also effective in pro scene too because of a different reason.

[@joetheseventeenth]

@@Lathra10 im gonna assume u cant read.

[@MarcuS-tk8rj]

@@joetheseventeenth tf? ranked is the actual game? the esports scene/pros scene has the same mechanics and gameplay as a high elo game

[@miguelduran900]

A kid to his friend: "you know there is a game called valorant and.." Dimitri out of a bush: "actually CSGO has one of the most complex mind breaking, rage inducing utility usage, in Valorant everything is more streamlined and easy to use, in CSGO you have to grind for hours and days to know how to throw a single smoke.." *Kids start crying calling for their parents

[@cybernaded7109]

Genuinely funny comment

[@1Maverick2]

CSGO just genuinely sucks compared to Valorant. It’s far too dated and having the abilities in Valorant is a much more enjoyable experience.

[@cybernaded7109]

@@1Maverick2 wrong

[@1Maverick2]

@@cybernaded7109 nope

[@odding3472]

@@1Maverick2 agree, utility is 10x more fun in valo compared to cs, but i love both games so

[@gracecalis5421]

It's not a Dimitri video about Valorant without him somehow hamfisting CSGO into the script.

[@shirshojyoti3472]

ifkr

[@true3211]

well valorant is basically a cs copy. i like both games, but you have to admit it.

[@gracecalis5421]

@@true3211 What does that have to do with anything?

[@exiledkenkaneki701]

@@true3211 I like that " I like both games" you used to distract of a fact that no one cares about, csgo isn't required to be talked about here because it's unnecessary details that no one cares about other then toxic people who search for opportunities to attract a successful game

[@true3211]

@@gracecalis5421 well if you talk about valorant, it's easy to compare it to cs. that's why they mention it. valorant is a young game and cs is like it's bigger brother who has the history to compare it to. a big part of the valorant pro scene are former cs players. and this is the score, they talk about cs so much, it's basically the most important game on their channel. if a overwatch like game came out and the score made a video about it's new pro scene, they would obviously mention overwatch. i don't see what you're trying to tell me.

[@ayaka4926]

6:20 "I already won VCT bro"

[@stimdad8312]

Goddamn he's 19, I'm 19, I used to think that he was at least 24.

[@diinx7089]

Whole gambit squad is filled with 19 and 20yrs old

[@lipton3120]

I think everyone except redgar is 19. redgar is 23

[@marenderu496]

@@lipton3120 redgar looks like khabib's brother no cap

[@bijinajisheer4579]

@@marenderu496 That's not redgar. That's sheydos

[@Jinn66]

"damn look at this valorant pro nAts so good man" dimitri:So anyways CSGO is one of the greatest games in the whole galaxy its so complex you need to suck everyone for 2 hours to be able to 360 no scope your enemy this is so hard the best game ever

[@Adityarm.08]

Really, that gets annoying really fast. Csgo was a great game but is infested with cheaters beyond all comprehension. Valve doesn't give a shit, that makes Valorant 10x better automatically.

[@bugs1yb1ins]

The speed in which he makes decisions with cypher camera and tripwire is just absurd, dude's on another level

[@brimster-valorantaggressiv3419]

He is tin man

[@camdevtube]

I think a secret to his success is that he's such a good rat, he also knows exactly how other rats play and so he's not only a rat but serves as an anti-rat as well, and so he negates that psychological advantage the other team could've gained via rat tactics.

[@sagenberg3918]

ratception

[@rathinasabapathy3796]

Guess you can call him ...... The RAT God

[@hepersopon4459]

The moment I saw the title, I immediately knew who this was about...

[@nothingimportant5158]

Same, brother

[@coledorillo6685]

Good job for looking at the thumbnail

[@shivamparikh9471]

Same

[@dalanding3391]

ok

[@andydai6117]

when i saw him in the thumbnail, i already knew who the video was about

[@oberdot]

Thanks to nAts, every viper is doing THAT vipers pit in hookah. If you know, you know

[@zer0slayer1]

Elaborate?

[@playnox8567]

I used it and I got prefired 9 out of 10 times

[@playnox8567]

@VK i was talking about the viper pit on bind and where i hid in the corner of hookah, i think you're talking about the peek where you pick up your own smoke after u activate it. Unless im missing something

[@shadouai]

Yeah baby

[@oberdot]

@@playnox8567 we just call it the Nats Ult now and everyone knows where to look for the viper

[@ojtiv]

"whats more intimidating then trash talk, is no talk at all" - some wise man in my lobby

[@joel5031]

11:03 what up with mistic's look, his team just won and he just staring into my soul

[@armandf.s4036]

His camera is bugged

[@Browniev2]

dude I was there to see the icebox G2 vs GMB match, and nAts deserved that MVP bro. That man found a way to lurk almost EVERY SINGLE ROUND getting caught rarely. Insane player.

[@trippin5619]

Hes my favourite pro. Like he has an ult spot on bind which is out of the world. Youre always good for two. His set ups are a league of its own. Changing my playstyle from supporter and smoker to lurker made me hated on, but so much better. A month ago i struggled in silver now i clap plats

[@illuminati5340]

6:16 the best flex ever 🔥😂

[@tushkandragonlord9667]

This cutie and yay were truly the gems of Berlin

[@pearishgrape]

This guy makes me feel like being a rat is a very nice compliment

[@GHLukinator]

You know hes good when the casters sound like they're crying haha

[@chicho5121]

Zellsis saying nAts is unreal at 3:43 is during V1's time in iceland btw, Gambit hadn't even played internationally at that time

[@hrishikeshnaveenam6965]

BRO I FUCKING LOVE HOW YALL ARE PUSHING OUT HIGH QUALITY CONTNT EVERYDAY KEEP UP THE GRIND GUYS

[@nataliewitkowski913]

i got into valorant during this lcq and got to watch all that it was really cool

[@shivamparikh9471]

Same

[@flowww7153]

Pretty good timing, champs is just a few blinks away

[@nataliewitkowski913]

@@flowww7153 im stoked cuz it's been awhile since I got into an esport

[@jbeastro163]

nAts has ice in his veins bro. An assassin with gaming headphones

[@starrynights2951]

he is so expressionless in tournaments whenever i see him smile it feels extra cute lol

[@UviZether]

This video made me so happy, especially to know that there is such a thing as a Rat King in Valorant E-sports. I get called a rat almost every game I play and it is the funniest thing to do to people ever, I love doing it, and it works.

[@savauzumaki12345678]

The things is, lurkers only need to have their positions known to the enemy team to literally help their teammates... It'll destroy how the enemies hold a site...

[@EliteFreeman]

its all about the satisfaction of killing them without them even knowing you existed near them

[@VirtualDemoOG]

Seen as though I'm the first here. Love the vids. You guys are amazing. Keep it up.

[@lorel747]

Can't imagine this guy on Chamber, it's gonna be insane

[@Alecsdotwav]

He tried it the other on stream He said he doesn't like oping

[@zxrimars]

"I already won VCT" Damn what a flex holy shit

[@keeganmeistre3052]

Cool fact JT from Complexity CSGO used to call himself JT RAT. Because that kid and yes he was a kid back then used to RAT the tunnels of BF4.

[@feeknee]

That’s not Smooya

[@nuyabuisness7526]

"The only thing I feel when I pull the trigger is recoil."

[@ambuj.k]

TenZ : A literal Human Aimbot nAts : A robotic rat

[@Hollowdude15]

This video was increadible and good editing man :]

[@gstellar96]

Ah yes Viper, my favorite sentinel

[@xerxes9405]

He's able to use viper the controller to gain map control?? No fucking way

[@nothingimportant5158]

When I saw the title I immediatly thought of nAts. I love him so much

[@pritishdwivedi808]

In tactical shooters i think lurking can be viable, ctzn for g2 is insanely cracked he's singly handedly carrying g2 and getting so many frags every pl season and clutching matches

[@rinsheie851]

“go play vct” “i already won vct” COLD

[@Xuejinyuan]

I bet his brother didn't know what he would unleash to the world.

[@SxfetyPin]

As much as I love these stories, I really wish you would cover more Fighting Game content/stories. I found your channel through Fighting Games.

[@johnobee402]

“ohhh my viper go play VCT” “no, no i already won VCT” “yeah he already won VCT”

[@maxdrbn3060]

"Crouching chad, hidden rat" - the true Rat King

[@arzackirelia2792]

Nats so gooood. On a side note we are truly gonna need a "story of mkleo" The fucking goat

[@-mako-6018]

i find it hilarious that you can sneak on a zip line, games never stop to amaze me lmao

[@iddumushtak7137]

guy : "Viperrr go play VCT" nats I already won VCT

[@peksacola]

Calling someone a rat is just a stupid way of admitting you got outplayed by a more patient player with superior execution

[@canard93]

It was confusing at frist. On my country, a rat (or rat kids) is used to describe a player who is not even getting into puberty, like below 12 or 13 y/o

[@anaszaheer5822]

So he's basically Naf's distant relative.

[@dannypicacho]

rats, rats, we're the rats

[@gaebolglancer]

rAts

[@fedjavuckovic5920]

I played cs for like 18 months, and my role was lurker. I started Valo a few weeks ago cause all of my friends were starting as well. And as natural Lurker from CS this is literally me in Valorant. Since aim transition is way too hard, and spraying is pretty much impossible for me, since patterns are pretty much random after 1st few bullets and I spray it like my ordinary AK spray pathern and usually wifs it, I have to relay on my lutking abillities. None the less I play 2-3 games a day for a few weeks and I already made it to the gold, while most of my friends are still bronze. Just based on my lurking/ratting abillities... I do not even know all the hero abillities and sometimes I still get confused like how this guy is behind me, but I've learned maps well, and well I do with only 100 games I am already gold hehe...

[@Elecks.]

oh i didn't know outsmarting/fool someone is being a rat. I play like this in every FPS, i am a proud RAT!

[@DKtrek21]

Every contender will watch how nats plays and either copy it or counter it. That talent will always be a threat to everyone and he will be checked no matter what. Nats is a beast in mind games and everyone will have to deal with his playstyle if they want a shot to be the first team to win Champions

[@flauu6426]

18:50 We do, but I'm sure as hell that the enemy didn't.

[@Easterntitan77]

“These creatures come from the deepest, darkest corners of bronze and silver r6 lobbies”.

[@bird0709]

I love how nAts convinced the commentator that everything was a simulation

[@lukro.]

now because of this video every time someone does something like this and everyone call them out they will reply like "well theres nothing wrong we are just smarter"

[@s2-railgun718]

I'm a rat player myself and most of the time i don't care what people say, i play to win

[@lukro.]

@@s2-railgun718 whats the point in winning if you arent really learning anything from it. also playing just to win is the least fun thing you can do in any game, go for kills is whatever game you play, its much better than winning.

[@s2-railgun718]

@@lukro. fun for every people are diffrent and my fun in playing games are winning so i don't care what others say you can decide what fun for me. I'm enjoying the game my own way and it's bullshit if you think playing like a rat wont make you improve

[@johanescandra]

Budok in the video, what an honor to watch this one

[@KimGelloLatonio]

He is a phantom user because of its sound. RATATATA.

[@adriancatindig6129]

10:09 I don't know if I should laugh at it or run away from it if I saw it in a game

[@sirsoos3546]

I am a huge fan of SEN and VS, those are the teams I'm backing till the end; but, nAts is my favorite individual player.

[@thatgermanview5721]

Wow, camping is good in a FPS? Never would have thought.

[@SafetyKitten]

Nats is more than just a camper

[@Chillgolfer9664]

nAts is a real life superhero, even his play style was annoying to deal with. From a Russian prodigy, to a valorant champion. 1:24 do like that the rest play was name Kamikaze 😂.

[@inscept8993]

I watch this for only dimitri

[@TheHighborn]

Being a good rat takes skill LMAO. Deep map knowledge to begin with

[@janomat_7721]

A weapon has no emotions. -Nemesis

[@garopopper]

Wagwan with your hair man. It’s like double my height

[@yugei6554]

6:16 Flex tho

[@mareksicinski3726]

5:24 outward emotion Which is also the right attitude

[@pimpchimpin]

Nice pronunciation on Reykjavik btw

[@nikhildugar_iwnl]

Please make a video on Bumpaah!

[@cerebli]

nats: no access to site

[@a6893_]

Oh god this is the reason I am getting silent opponent even in silver. Fuckkk that's my style. Sometimes team calls me baiter but that's just feels like assassin style.

[@seangabrielzamudio8362]

Waiting for ur teammates to die before peeking is baiting, lurking is a totally different concept

[@a6893_]

@@seangabrielzamudio8362 I am holding an angle. Randomly a teammate peaks and die, having an advantage(sound cue) I killed the enemy. It's not like I was baiting him, he baited himself then blames me for baiting. If I don't move and kill enemy he won't call me baiter.

[@veth-sama6834]

this video made me remember 13-0 on icebox against g2 😂😂😂

[@koshhi1178]

You have not seen my OJ Simpsons Omen Judge Simpsons

[@cookzzu]

NATS = NO ACCESS TO SITE

[@FriendNotFoeBand]

I think there's a fine line between map control/positioning and ratting. The percentage of good players is much higher than it was 10 years ago. There is too much gameplay to review with KZbin and Twitch to play aggressive all of the time. Classic fps routes, strategies, and timing have been exposed to the general public, so there is less room for aggressive play, even in "casual" lobbies. People oust it the game as "too casual", but using smokes and various ordinances for map control and unpredictability are a vital part of Call of Duty SnD due to how easy it is to frag in that game. I think we are seeing that playstyle creep into CS type games and veteran players aren't happy about it. It doesn't work 100% of the time, but even if it works 15 out of 29 times, by my calcutions, that is a victory. It's 2021 and casual gaming is dead, so it's probably time to swallow your pride and play a little smarter.

[@deezekii3479]

thats a compliment for me tbh, my goal is to annoy and make enemies rage

[@thurowaway]

1:03 the moment you started to complain on reddit, you're no longer a chad lmao

[@fazewalker]

Theres a nice word, "Lurker" :(

[@drogerflav6350]

Damn i am so old we called them campers

[@tuna977]

look at this mans laugh bro 9:04

[@sajal18]

Smooya is punching the air rn

[@shai-zeecks]

unfair fights in your favor is the best fight for you 😏

[@Arc_The_King]

That was the chillest sheesh I ever heard

[@dreamhazy]

Damn Dmitri got some ice sheeeesh

[@cydr0x476]

What's the name of this scream clip he mentioned at the end?

[@aryashetty3924]

Nats uses his game sense to get behind the enemies. Simple uses his game sense to get kills.

[@mir4gedece1ver16]

"NONONO I've already won VCT"

[@Blackout-ff6ck]

2:00 oh fuck I'm a rat with a shorty

[@gicabustiuc]

Even his nickname rimes with "Rats"

[@theanomity3185]

Imo the best player in valorant rn

[@brianvaneyll9852]

that zellsis clip is so damn funny

[@krustbruh8841]

We need el rato aka Ratirl

[@BrahmaDBA]

He's the Russian Terminator in Valorant. When you least expected it Skynet already teleported him behind your whole team and he dinked your teammate one by one.