marteen sets a new BO5 kill record in VCT with 126 eliminations

The record for the highest number of kills in a VCT best-of-five series was broken this weekend. Gentle Mates’ Duelist, Martin “marteen” Pátek, is now the new record holder with 126 eliminations, recorded during his team’s victory over Fnatic in the Middle bracket final of VCT EMEA Kickoff. Delivering a performance of remarkable consistency and impact, he played a decisive role in both the win and his team’s qualification for the Masters Santiago.

In doing so, he surpassed Zheng “ZmjjKK” Yongkang, the Chinese Duelist for Edward Gaming, who had previously set the benchmark with 111 kills in the grand final of VALORANT Champions 2024—a performance that secured both the trophy and the Finals MVP distinction. marteen exceeded that total by 15 kills across the entirety of the match.

The record had come close to falling even earlier in the week, as Gentle Mates faced BBL Esports in the upper bracket final the day before. marteen tallied 106 kills in that series, narrowly missing the mark set by ZmjjKK. Still in formidable form the following day, however, he raised his level once more to become the sole holder of the record.

Once again fielding his signature Yoru—a pick that ultimately tipped the balance in Gentle Mates’ favor after five maps—marteen delivered standout performances in each game. He reached 33 kills on Corrode despite his team’s defeat on that map. He proved even more influential on Split, igniting his side’s resurgence with 28 kills and an ACS of 399.

Opposite him, Emir “Alfajer” Beder (96 kills) and Sylvain “Veqaj” Pattyn (103 kills) attempted to contain his impact, but their efforts were insufficient to overshadow the Czech player’s display, which now stands as the highest kill total ever recorded in a VCT best-of-five. The overall record for kills in a best-of-five across all competitions, however, still belongs to Ilia “something” Petrov, currently Paper Rex's Duelist. At the time representing Sengoku Gaming in VCL Japan, he amassed 136 kills in a series against FENNEL.