In two years, Valorant has nearly doubled its Agent pool of Duelists, Initiators, Controllers and Sentinels for players to master.
During its closed beta, taking place between April and May of 2020, Valorant featured a humble total of 10 Agents: Brimstone, Viper, Omen, Cypher, Sova, Sage, Phoenix, Jett, Raze and Breach.
Flash forward to today and the nine Agents added since have, for the most part, become integral pieces of the roster.
DBLTAP spoke with several of the game's best players from FaZe Clan, 100 Thieves and Ghost Gaming during the VCT Stage 2: Challengers NA Playoffs to get their thoughts on a simple question: What is your favorite post-launch Agent? Here's what we found.
Say what you will about the character's current strong state in the meta, Chamber is FaZe Quan "dicey" Tran's go-to post-launch Agent.
With the ability to teleport numerous times in a round, maximize the potential of the Operator and side-pocket at Guardian at all times, it's pretty easy to see why Chamber is such a popular pick at the moment.
"I just like his kit," dicey said about Chamber to DBLTAP. "I like to fight and just play an aggro style, so I like to be able to have multiple guns and fight constantly and TP out and just be able to make those plays that can win me the round or win the team the round for us."
Meanwhile, his fellow FaZe teammate and "smeaging" advocate, Andrej "babybay" Francisty, opted to shout out a character perhaps as unorthodox as his own style of play.
"My favorite Agent post-launch that's new used to be Chamber," babybay said, "but now that I play Neon, I think I like it way more. It's a lot more fun to play. A lot more crazy and chaotic."
Despite continuing to have a meager pick rate in Competitive games across just about all ranks since her launch in Episode 4 Act 1 according to Blitz, Neon's controllable chaos is something that, perhaps unexpectedly, is continuing to be refined at the pro level.
According to VLR.gg, Neon was locked in 26% of the time during the Stage 2: NA Playoffs. On Fracture and Haven, that number rose to 75% and 50%, respectively.
"It's just the slide," babybay said. "Once you get the actual kit down and know how to use it, it's fucking fun to play. I can't even lie."
Being that Reyna was released right when Valorant launched on June 2, 2020, it's reasonable to say that the Mexican Duelist was one of, if not the sole addition that's won over the most hearts within the game's community â including 100T Derrek Ha and 100T Peter "Asuna" Mazuryk.
While Derrek explained that Reyna is his favorite post-launch Agent thanks to her simplicity to play in ranked, Asuna pinpointed her as the most overpowered character in the game alongside Chamber.
"Sheâs probably the best Agent," Asuna said of Reyna. "If I had to pick a more recent one, Chamber. Chamberâs probably like the other fun Agent, but just because he's broken right now. I like playing broken Agents. I mean, everyone does, to be fair, but it's like, it's nice to play something overpowering. You can feel the impact very clearly."
Lastly, Ghost Alex "aproto" Protopapas brought up an Agent that should warm the hearts of Controller mains everywhere.
Back in March at the start of Episode 4 Act 2, Astra notoriously received a number of nerfs in a move that, coupled with the subsequent buffs to Omen and Brimstone, has since hampered her pick rate for most.
"I enjoy Astra a lot," aproto said. "I still think she's the best Controller. Her suck is still so useful. She's definitely more of like an anchor Controller because you can have stars down for yourself and you can quick smoke and use the abilities to help you. I think she fits my playstyle a lot, which is why I enjoy her."
For more 2022 VCT coverage, feel free to check out:
- Valorant Pros Share Their Go-To Buys for Pistol Rounds
- Valorant Pros Settle the Vandal vs. Phantom Debate
- VCT Pros Explain What the Best Map is in Valorant
- VCT Pros Reveal What the Worst Map is in Valorant
- Coaching âVibeyâ 100 Thieves Valorant, Sean Gares Finds Personal Growth as Well
- Valorant Pros Explain What Players Should Improve to Climb Ranked
