This Agent Ruined Valorant

[@aztechuhs]

As a CS main that still enjoys following the Valorant scene the biggest thing I'm interested in at this point is to see how Riot controls agent power creep. It seems to have infected nearly every character-based game at some point. Really hard to see that Valorant will be any different but I hope they can overcome it, its great for the CS scene to finally have some competition.

[@Xylexis95]

I'll be honest, I feel as though Riots done a fantastic job with every new agent except Astra. Astra to me is just fundamentally broken from the ground up and should be the target for the next major rework.

[@elcuh9976]

@@Xylexis95 the nerfs are great

[@killerchun96]

Riot has always handled balancing very seriously. If you look at League of Legends, you have reworked characters and original characters that are still relevant to this day. There will always be some stronger than others but they do their best to keep characters relevant. Hopefully they replicate this effort in valorant.

[@archfestzor]

Lmao you want precedence look no further than LoL. Riots balance is terrible playing a character pre yasuo is basically power crept out or obsolete baring a rework or just stupid raw stats boost. Ofcourse there are exceptions but generally the new characters kits ARE overloaded and overtuned at launch. Dont believe me, then read character tool tips pre yasuo vs after.

[@im.weasel]

I dont think they should release so many characters. They should honestly stop and just focus on maps and maybe weapons. The game is kinda lacking in the weapons in my opinion.

[@msmaam2040]

As someone who wanted to main Astra, she's hard to use but really useful. You need to actually understand the game and nuances of it plus constant comms, which not a lot actually do. Viper is an easier agent to master compared to Astra.

[@katana4238]

For Astra you need comms, while with Vuper you can almost play solo. I think it's due to the fact that Astra temporarily is "out of" the game while activating her abilities. For Astra to work you need to know where and when to activate which ability.

[@broom_404]

its not about usefulness, its just boring, lame and cringe

[@br00kdale]

@@broom_404 lol I loved astra before the nerfs, I still think some of the nerfs were a bit too much lol

[@archmagus9000]

@@broom_404 yeah-yeah, we know that you even don't play on her and think that she's boring... Yeeeeeah...

[@m1thical_362]

@@katana4238 It's like an apex's crypto. good in coordinated teams

[@sandpie1345]

playing astra feels like playing a strategy game and not an fps game

[@El_chara]

And soloQ Astra feel like a strategy game but you can only use cheap unit against raid boss

[@controllertakes0skill278]

What a very original statement wow

[@batatanna]

Tbf. Tactical shooters ARE strategy games

[@benlink202forever]

And raze feels like a quake FPS, not a tactical FPS. Cypher feels like a R6 character rather than a CSGO character. Killjoy feels like a tower defense character rather than a FPS character. See how stupid that argument is? It’s as if every agent has a completely different way of playing compared to the other and that’s what Riot was intending with their agents.

[@plastic12345]

Lmao

[@xynOwO]

feels awful that the “most boring type” of agents are getting some hate. ngl, astra is op before but still. people don’t seem to appreciate controllers as much. if they want something “not boring”, just play cs.

[@agentprismarine2778]

This. If you really want raw gun game, CS is there and it has been there for years. Astra will still shine after the dust settles.

[@veritasty2710]

Agree.

[@diegurke1000]

It is the Same with Cs. Nobody wants to be the consistent Support element in the Team even tho it can Carrier Games.

[@Bruh-og7mh]

she's not boring, there's just no counter to her ability. You're pretty much forced to play default, which makes the game pretty slow and stagnant

[@latebloomer2416]

Factssss

[@nanezferrer3565]

"No counter at all" KayO : let me introduce myself

[@jarifahmed977]

"SHUTTING them...I mean, ASTRA DOWN" "You...I mean, ASTRA are...sorry IS POWERLESS"

[@just_some_bigfoot_hacking_you]

"You are powerless!"

[@zerocooltakeover9382]

The problem is that astra could be literally anywhere on the map and you can't tell based off her util, but kay/o has a range to where he can supress

[@Sharkenjoyer862]

Wouldn’t have been an issue if her utility was somehow counterable. It was quite literally the strongest TWO abilities on ONE character and there was ZERO things you could do about it. Hopefully they learn that completely uncounterable utility isn’t wanted by anybody, and think twice about adding more of it in the future.

[@inkbean4826]

B R E A C H

[@jonasmewto4661]

@@inkbean4826 DODGE

[@rahul2571]

@@inkbean4826 look away iron

[@ziq1450]

kayo

[@ulyssescasio9939]

The only counter is your team also has an Astra. She can hold all sites fr anywhere in the map that's y she's so broken.

[@ubeia4857]

The problem with Astra was unlike Jett and Sova who are actually routinely replaced by other agent of their class in certain maps(Raze for Jett and Kayo/Skye for Sova), she was *always* the pick for the controller in every map. I don't count Viper, because even the devs themselves acknowledged that Viper is a separate type of controller than others and most of the time she serves as the secondary controller of the team. And so the only real competition that Astra had was Omen and Brim, both we're noticeably weaker than her and what they could do, she could do better and more. Coupled with the fact that her utils other than the smoke are all crowd control utils that she can place and use anywhere on the map, and you can start to see why pros hate playing against her. The meta developed into bait the Astra utils because otherwise she will mess you up even if she is on the literal opposite side of the map.

[@kexcz8276]

Finally, Omen got his 2nd breath. When Riot said that, in expense of new character, they will focus on the in-game life quality changes, I i didnt think that it would be that good :). Nice work Riot

[@ayyitshift]

Omen is pretty mediocre because of his ult, I am a proud Omen main and I love him, but his ult is just bad on another level, I appreciate that Riot tried to buff him but it just doesn't cut it, I'd be better off playing Brimstone or Astra than Omen...

[@knites9698]

@@ayyitshift Omen still works on a lot of maps. I think the controllers are now pretty much all picked in proplay. Though yeah, please change his ult. I'm an omen main too and there is barely any use for the ult.

[@bac0ntoast]

full agree to the 2 people who replied, i play omen a lot on some maps but his ult is borderline useless, besides checking a push early to see how many people are there, which sova dart and kay/o knife do way better

[@kexcz8276]

@@knites9698 yea, but I dont know what should it be then. I think its usefull as attacker to clutch or to fake out, otherwise not so usefull as defender, because you want to hold certain piece of map, and by tp you risk a lot. Maybe we will get to it in some point ....

[@weezerstan7788]

if only they did that for league

[@MrKrystalMethod]

started playing astra after nerfs, tbh it feels kinda bad having 4 stars and not 5 but everything else feels great. wall might be a little short in duration but the concuss and grav well are pretty dependable. overall i like astra but i wish i played her when she was “broken”

[@vedantbharvirkar3909]

+1

[@nedleeds449]

Personally love playing Astra, I usually play with my friends and so having that communication and team play allows me to contribute a lot more. Gotta say, the nerf ain’t that bad. Just makes playing Astra slower

[@ulyssescasio9939]

The colldown is fine but the 4 stars really is the one that killed her. If you are attacker, you don't have a smoke for post plant and you can't fake a site with the colldown. Recalling her stars is useless when you rotated, you can't retake fast.

[@sunrayyourmom]

@@ulyssescasio9939 Yeah makes her slower and much harder to play effectively against a coordinated defense

[@proskilztimez2785]

@@sunrayyourmom she’s become on level with omen with less util

[@yymei]

true, she's just slower now

[@phoenixflamegames1]

Astra reminds me of other characters that are fantastic in full team environments but horrible in soloQ. Maybe that’s the reason I haven’t seen an astra in months.

[@raggedyshoes3656]

astra had some of the lowest pickrates in low elo comp and her pickrates were still lacking higher up, but when you get into the REALLY high ranks, and especially pro play she was completely busted. A character like that is kind of doomed to begin with, because if you dont nerf her she becomes a menace, but if you do nerf her shes going to get almost 0% play in any low rank game

[@farizrahman7290]

funny thing i instalock astra in ep3 act 2 a lot and went from gold to diamond by soloQ in just 1act. But yeah, i see lot of lower elos underutilized or simply don't understand how to use it

[@rudrasharma2734]

As an astra main i absolutely loved her kit, she was the only perfect agent in valorant with a kit that didn't help her but the team. She is overpowered yes, but only when you have a good team. I love the new nerfs but i wish they at least reduced the star prices

[@zVoltaze]

when your attacking and the other team has astra its so hard to rush no matter where u are on the map she can mes you up

[@flarebear5346]

Don't rush then

[@DonutFlameFPS]

@@flarebear5346 taking out one of the integral strategies in a tac shooter? Wow amazing character.

[@rav9067]

just bait out her util

[@stayfrosty6198]

@@flarebear5346 yeah right just walk to the site and they will just let you plant

[@yadvendrakulkarni4698]

if ur team has a good astra she can carry you with bot fragging

[@lemony5272]

As person that has dealt with riots overpowered bs for over 10 years, it’s hilarious that they’re surprised

[@AAAqua]

The game has been only out for a year and a half

[@beertlont776]

@@AAAqua think young one. He is talking about riots policy's ON games. Not just valorant

[@just_some_bigfoot_hacking_you]

@@AAAqua You think it's just Valorant? 🤣🤣 Have you ever heard or played other Riot games like League?

[@panosts6178]

I hope we don't ever reach a state like the GOATS meta in Overwatch. If abilities get too good the game transforms to a moba and stops being an FPS. You should be able to shoot your way out of almost every situation

[@jspr1te529]

Fortunately that’s still the case, as most abilities so far are made to be played with and around the gunplay(or are literal guns in Chamber’s case).

[@Cons-hh5ef]

goats was good

[@panosts6178]

@@Cons-hh5ef it was good to rank up if your aim was trash. You just needed gamesense and nothing else which was terrible IMO. Coming to ow from csgo I had to transition into playing tanks and supports instead of my mccree, tracer and soldier. You even had aim Gods like Kephrii and Ans play Brig instead of Widow because at a high enough level dps were basically unplayable

[@jacobosborn8435]

I think abilities are what make valorant interesting and unique and should be central in gameplay. Shooting your way out is for CS.

[@panosts6178]

@@jacobosborn8435 it should be like utility. Otherwise it ain't a tactical fps. A bad aimer no matter his gamesense regarding abilities should not be able to reach the highest ranks

[@ky3518]

"astra is valorant exclusive" symmetra : "am i a joke to you?"

[@CwassointFRFR]

Astra is Zarya, Rein, Symmetra in one agent

[@hiranyabhbaishya1460]

Although Astra was kind of broken many people also liked her because of default plays she enables esp in the pro level, without her many people think it will just be rushing in sites which is boring

[@swarooh]

it seems so funny to me that duelist or explicit jett mains complain about any char in valorant

[@troysmithfr]

Yeah those fucking Jett players. Problem is that's what makes people wanna play the game

[@edmonmanalili4444]

I literally just watched Ziptie's yoru 2.0 and a jett player called him cringe 💀

[@rohitsaji2799]

People who just play jet and Reyna and think other agent are boring are ignorant people.

[@alicrius]

They didn't just nerf her.. they kinda killed her. Now she is by far the least popular agent

[@iand794]

Cypher?

[@English_person]

@@iand794 cypher is still played a lot

[@The_White_Croissant]

My favorite part of valorant is how unique they take things. Instead of having to learn line ups for smokes you literally place them before moving in. But if you want to do lineups there's an agent for that. Wanna be a really annoying flank? Well here's a bunch of teleport abilities have fun. Paranoid about enemies coming from behind at any angle? Pick your alarm system. Explosives? Explosives.

[@Kevbot6000]

I honestly don’t think cosmic divide is extremely broken. As a skye main I usually send a blind then peak, as abilities can go through the wall. There’s counters to it. Some of the combos with the gravity can be kinda broken though.

[@cruzer5992]

Tbh for someone like me who played it a lil bit on the strategic side instead of just braindead aiming astra was great . I loved to play astra even jett and sova have a broken kit who were out way before her just community outburst made her be the first instead of being the last to be nerfed which is sad

[@blasianking4827]

I don't think Sova is broken; very strong but not broken. Jett definitely needs tuning. But as it stands, I don't disagree with nerfing Astra first. Her existence alone invalidated pretty much every other controller character, whereas you couldn't *quite* say the same for Jett.

[@oomer2]

@@blasianking4827 I agree with jett needing a LITTLE BIT of tuning but only with dash - out of curiosity what nerfs do you recommend though. Dash really seems like an ability that you either bury or is really good in this type of game Also yea fuck astra lmaoo

[@blasianking4827]

@@oomer2 I don't think she needs super severe nerfs. I think as it stands the main problem is how her dash is such an inconsequential get-out-of-jail-free card. I've seen suggestions to make it so that Jett can only dash in the direction she's facing, so if you want to dash away you have to flick. I think this is quite reasonable. Other than that, I don't think her abilities are overpowered; maybe her ult could use some tuning. Maybe reduce the damage of the individual knives to incentivize headshots and raise the skill floor?

[@rishoo6976]

@@oomer2 I don't remember where but I heard instead of jett's dash being so defensive maybe it could only be offensive by having to charge jett's dash? Like it goes shorter if you just tap the ability but if you hold it down it can go further than it could before.

[@srkyx7207]

Aiming is not braindead cs and val are made for you to aim the whole point is to click on enemy's head before he clicks on yours yes you have strategy but only staying in astral form is too boring its boring to play against its boring to play for majority of people and its also boring to watch we needed val to be more shooting and gunplay not just postplant ability spam with astra kj sova etc

[@Lvrdsean]

Give it a couple months for people to realize she’s still viable if not more viable than Omen & Brim despite the nerfs. All the nerfs really did was give us more of a dilemma when picking a controller agent rather than having Astra be the only agent to pick.

[@flarebear5346]

Imo she's still better than omen. There is no reason to play omen when gravity well is still better than omens flash. She also actually has an ultimate

[@ulyssescasio9939]

You can still play her, she still good om holding down site, it's just on the attacker side, you can't fake site now if Astra is ur only smoker and you have to put the stars very carefully now coz u only have 4 stars. If you use them all after 30 secs and you didn't enter the site, u have nothing. That us why Brim is now the best smoker, he has 3 smokes ready to deploy. You have 2 for entering site and 1 for post plant. This helps your team win games.

[@sunrayyourmom]

@@flarebear5346 Grav well is on par with omen flash imo. People forget that there is a reason no one played Viper in 2020, because Omen flash is also one button press that clears an entire room/ stops and entire push.

[@sunrayyourmom]

@@ulyssescasio9939 The inability to fake with astra now is the biggest detriment to her for sure. Omen can regain smokes faster and can use them without thinking about other util.

[@msmaam2040]

Omen and Brim are pretty meh. They're picked only for smoke and easy use and Brim gets picked more than Omen because of his ult.

[@silv6r.official]

Astra in CS GO. Teammate : Where are you smoking? - Stair, Jungle or CT? Astra : Just walk B kid, I got this.

[@luminescentlion]

For the ending this man has never heard of a shallot? Literally a 1 for 1 replacement for onions

[@mrpolarbear82]

Chamber mains: Hold my beer.

[@walldell210]

I think KAY/O is the most balanced release they ever had

[@MebiManga]

people were saying he was going to be very broken with his skills...and afterwards everyone just kept quiet. I think they did a great job with the duration of his ult to allow for the team to push (by shutting down sentinel utilities) but not allowing it too long such that the defenders can't retake the site.

[@arkaui7857]

I think fade is on par with being one of the most balanced releases tbh

[@solpport4276]

Astra seems like the Aurelion Sol or Aphelios of valorant but… only even more broken, she’s so unique that it’s almost impossible to balance her for all levels of play.

[@dpocohc]

U calling asol broken?

[@daneshgenhazo2922]

@@dpocohc i think then broken like same concept as asol but 200 years like aphelios

[@dpocohc]

@@daneshgenhazo2922 ohhh i see. Thanks

[@_zzeero]

@@dpocohc have you not played against the braindead auto-push->roam champ that dealt 99999999dmg to your WHOLE TEAM CONSISTENTLY while also being tanky? they would either make asol's numbers so low that he's dogshit or make the numbers go up a LITTLE and he'll be fucking broken, there's no in-between

[@sekischro5093]

​@@dpocohc he is now that his rework is here 💀💀💀💀💀

[@sharpiolover2026]

ya know what. onions are in a class of their own. you learn something new everyday

[@Snow-sc4gz]

Can we at least be thankful that the overpowered character in a game was one no one liked playing

[@DrKayFPS]

Except me who mained her...

[@DonutFlameFPS]

@@DrKayFPS we don't care

[@dog3gold3n]

@@DonutFlameFPS why did you need to say that?

[@akatex8758]

@@dog3gold3n because we don't care

[@Shoot_to_chill]

I think that the best way to make Val a more enjoyable comp experience they should add in a agent ban give one or two to each team not only does this give the devs more data about how to balance certain agents

[@brodiemorris2081]

I just think there's too little agents right now to do that though.

[@mintyfresh4855]

They will. League was like this but there aren't enough agent pool yet.

[@malsawmzela609]

Probably when we have 50 agents or something.

[@prahdush]

I think 20 agents is enough to give single agent bans to teams in comp

[@nikplaysgames4734]

Before agent bans, I would add agent safety’s. Some teams might have their whole comp rely on a single or two agents, and not playing those would destroy their strategies. Because of this, I would also add agent safeties with bans

[@marrissakelvin6744]

problem isnt astra, its the player using astra. you have to come up with a plan on spot before the game starts. When the game starts and your plan isnt working out you have to be smart enough to know where to rearrange your stars and fast. And when people fail to do that they blame the agent instead just learning to play her. And even with the stars in position you must know what ability is most effective in the situation at that location. If im being honest she's probably one of the most powerful ik so far. You just need to learn her abelites and up your reflexes

[@sviitor]

I came back to CS:GO mainly because of her, but also no nerfs to Jett and Viper helped me flee from Valorant

[@thenihilanth3382]

I understand you bro, I'm so fucking tired of Jett

[@agentprismarine2778]

Then you should stick to CS:GO, you want valorant to be a CS:GO clone, it is not.

[@sviitor]

@@agentprismarine2778 i never said that lol

[@misstahj5651]

I agree, astra is op as hell, but she doesn't leave the map when shes placing her stars, her model is still there, so you CAN interact with her if you run up on her

[@1DensuN]

I was and still are very sad about this nerf. No reason to play Astra anymore. 45sec cooldown is way to long. Stimmy with Brimmy is the new thing

[@Newo_46]

12:53 Shallots exist...

[@fishwarrarior1708]

Astra broke Valorant. later Valorant broke Astra.

[@thedieselweasel201]

Astra’s ult is just symetra’s ult from overwatch

[@geekbasics]

Basically if the pros cry about it enough it'll get nerfed.

[@trashsombra2793]

Pros always cry

[@NoNames_00]

@@trashsombra2793 and most of them is na's pro lol

[@InkWarlock333]

I’m not sure if it would be game coding nightmare, but I feel as though her abilities should have their effectiveness based on proximity (Similar to how Brim’s smokes placements are proximity limited) . Just some brainstorming, if she’s not within a certain range her activated smokes at longer range are halved in duration or that Gravity Well and Nova Pulse can only be activated when shes a certain distance to them (like KJ) just to cut down but not totally erase her global presence.

[@ent1ty576]

as someone who's mained her before AND after patch 4.04, the only real complaint i really have is the fact that you can no longer stack her smokes unless you use both charges. unlike before when you could have two smokes up for 30 seconds since you could stack them. I often find myself trying to smoke off a choke point only to realize it's still on cooldown. Other than that, I love how they made her smokes bigger, her Astral Form UI clearer and I think I'll still continue to main her after I get over my existential crisis of having to be a more flexible controller main instead of just knowing Viper and Astra.

[@soap8557]

Rip bozo

[@yourregularwaterbottles7903]

"I am on a higher plane chale, literally!" *yeah.. literally*

[@n4gauge]

8:30 you know a character is bad when people use him to reference that something is just bad or useless

[@hatto]

Atleast not anymore. They gotta buff phoenix, he's commonly the worst agent rn for the majority of ppl

[@dashjeff839]

This makes riot a very well game company unlike some others like blizzard. (Yeah im not afraid to mention them). Astra is very similar to Brigitte a character that could potentially ruins the game. Riot really listens to their community where their nerf astra and buff other agents that really needs it. And the way they are not afraid to nerf her drastically to make sure the game are still fun to play. Unlike Brigitte where they couldnt nerf her enough they decided to create pick role which ruining the versatility that the player can get and startegies that a pro player could came up with. Thanks riot keep up the good work

[@agentmoss8274]

As a Astra main i can guarantee that she is the BEST Controller agent that valorant has right now (IMO), one of the reason is that how she can call back the stars and it summons a smoke

[@dragos0902]

Even I am on the minority side, i liked playing her a lot because she requires a lot of skill, coordinated play and people in lower ranks than immortal barely played her (and now it is much worse). I agree with the nerfs, except the 1 star removal :(

[@hawthornedouglas]

Same. I think she'd be in a good spot with 5 stars. With 4 she legitimately has fewer abilities than every agent

[@xxMrPrimeTimexx]

@@hawthornedouglas that's what I didn't like too. Viper has 4 as well but her wall and cloud recharge, Omen has 5 and Brim has 6

[@saifwithme1021]

I think they should wait a little bit before they give her 5th star back

[@mwuahugz1115]

i can work with 4 stars if u can retake stars faster. they destroyed her too much. she has no strength rn compared to other controllers.

[@zackhanson5254]

I agree

[@AiceQream]

onion is one of a kind,you cant replace them.. introducing shallot

[@xekrongod1350]

Astra did not break Valorant, come on guys give her a break, she receives so much hate as it is, and now she's FUCKING NERFED TO THE GODDAMN GROUND!!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry had to vent a little. Sincerely, an Astra main.

[@zackhanson5254]

I love playing Astra. I feel like people don't give her enough credit for being fun to play. She adds a lot of depth and strategy to the game that not a lot of other agents do.

[@jeypi__]

There's some truth to Astra being OP. The first few times I played Fracture, I picked Astra so that I can be as useful even if I couldnt duel as well in a new map.

[@DuhBla]

A company with 200 years of game design experience btw. You can expect that there will be broken characters popping up here and there.

[@aokay3196]

200?

[@DuhBla]

@@aokay3196 its a meme, there was this one time a rioter responded to a thread on reddit about Riot Games balancing issues on their game and this rioter responded, in a now deleted comment, saying "what do you know about game design? We have 200 years of collective game design experience, you think you can do a better job than us?" kind of thing, so people meme on riot games even harder for having "200 years of experience" and still sucking at their job.

[@Sehk4nStuff]

That's why I can't take any eSports seriously besides CS, Rocket League and StarCraft(even tho that one is pretty dead). Because any character based game is bound to have those kind of shenanigans. There's too many variables to consider to reach sustainable balance between all characters without inducing powercreep since you have to keep releasing new characters to keep it fresh and interesting for the playerbase.

[@zackhanson5254]

Ayyyyyyyy a fellow StatCraft fan!

[@broadsword_]

Even you can see Brush playing Brim instead of Viper

[@tranphuongnam1860]

Name a better duo, Riot games and 200 years of game dev experience

[@bullmanny]

Now that brim is viable again it's honestly really fun to play him

[@fr0styyy928]

ngl, i became a controller main because of astra and viper. i enjoyed playing them because of the strategies i can use while playing the game. i don't like playing brim and omen, i just like astra better :///

[@hawthornedouglas]

Yup. Now astra is my pocket pick and I main Chamber and KJ.

[@ninawayyy]

feels like a reason to avoid gun fights and aim duels. yeah strategies are good but only if u have a part in it, there should be a balance in both gun fights and utility usage and she could use all her utlity without moving at all by just sitting in spawn (if you want) which doesn't follow the balance

[@bogdantoma3916]

A meta where everyone is trading abilities, almost no gun usage, Astra showed us how future Valorant is going to look like, if Riot decides to release more agents like her.

[@rivall8105]

I actually liked playing astra she’s not that boring even though she was op. She does require some skill though

[@Djego2001]

basically all role, except duelist; plugged into one and it even reached a point that playing omen/brim is literally trolling especially in higher ranks

[@globalmalfunction]

Shallots or Leaks can replace onions, and are even better in many uses/respects

[@gouthameow]

my take is the first take at 5:54 and im so happyyyyyyyyy

[@wickedwitchie8167]

Tbh, omen is too clunky with his smokes, and brim just doesn’t feel good to play. Astra can still keep up with the other controllers, especially with her buffed smoke size, so I definitely am going to keep playing her. Her nerfs don’t offset that global presence tbh. At least nobody plays her anymore so I never get astra diffed since there’s never another astra LMAO

[@benlink202forever]

Astra has clear weaknesses now compared to her original incarnation. Having only 4 stars and her recall/ abilities being significantly slower to recharge really helps her have a defined weaknesses when it comes to rushing and long play. Having a character that does global presence on a game is cool, but it should definitely be something that is slow to begin with compared to Omen and Brimestone. Viper is just viper.

[@ProtonSpriter]

What's wrong with Omen's smoke? Brim doesn't feel good to play?? I fail to see the problem, especially after the buffs.

[@wickedwitchie8167]

@@ProtonSpriter its just personal preference, nothing wrong with omen & brim, just i personally prefer astra. What I meant was that astra, for me, is much more precise with her smokes compared to omen, and brim is forced to play close to his team, which doesnt really fit my playstyle all the time. I'm happy to see other controllers coming into the meta, but i was just saying that I preferred astra much more than omen & brim

[@BenjaminBüchler]

If you think that Astra broke Valorant then you didn't see Brig in Overwatch, like you can actually kill Astra compared to Brig...

[@sviitor]

They made a video about it

[@idiomasentusiasticos7954]

On god she did. She is so down horrendous when you pair her with a line up agent. You suck the enemy off the spike then shoot them with a lineup. Literally nothing the diffuser can do to escape. As long as you get the plant down it’s a 12-0 attacker

[@jamilangon5798]

Astra is still kinda good on other maps but not all maps. also Astra needs coordination of a team however, more than 80% of the player base is low elo and basically kinda hit and miss in comms. it maybe a nightmare in pro/high elo but total clown on lower ranks. imagine astra setting stars in mid fight and being knifed as hearing is reduced and you lose sight of the environment on low elo play.

[@mrxvintage5414]

i understand this but the problem it that in lower elo like silver very few play astra cyz of her skill barrier i was one of the few who used astra to a good extent and i am disappointed that even tho it is a big issue in pro play in normal low elo ranked it was rlly gud

[@2TeamSWAT]

12:25 I like that the casters hype up vanitys play when cloud 9 still lost that round

[@alexcaulfield5208]

Dude, why would you want to replace onions

[@owarida6241]

They should have also included a limitted range where astra can place her stars relative to where her first star were place just like chambers rendezvous.

[@lordre7071]

Hell no

[@noahk6476]

And then she got nerfed. Well kind of.

[@omster_]

You got your stats wrong 2:29, Riot unsurprisingly found that copying what CSGO has with the AWP, makes a balanced price of a sniper

[@HookKingU]

im sorry but im still pissed about the cooldown and number of stars reduction, i think the sweet spot should be one or the other, longer cooldown or less stars. cuz now you cant really smoke and stun, and sunt is kinda bad already.

[@ninawayyy]

i've been maining omen since a year (despite of the nerfs and buffs I have stayed loyal to him) and now that he got a buff every team has one, but i rarely get diff'd, I dont see players using his kit to outplay or even reposition themselves, it is so much rare that I have appreciated an enemy omen, because all they do is smoke and sit, they are better off playing brim or astra at this point, i m very much a team player, constantly looking at the radar checking if my team need smokes, so after a year i m so used to the controller mindset that I can perform fairly decent on any of them, u cant escape from intense gunfights with any other controllers, you cant kill someone from behind being infront of them a second ago, omen has a bit of duelist in him which i really like

[@isazisempi3896]

basically they made a black character pretty decent and in response to people being mad they nerfed her down several tiers to Phoenix Cypher level.

[@yukoval]

Jett be like: Am I a joke to you?

[@llyonnel2847]

The astra bug where you can sell your free star in round 1 and buy a stinger or marshal

[@brycedaugherty9211]

For the outro, I hate onions. I'm okay if they go extinct

[@insquared1868]

Heroshooters aren't mobas, they have to set more focus on gunplay. Especially 5v5 tactical genre. "Heroes" in such FPS's resemble Utility usage but in a more creative way. But this creativity might lead to a huge mistake, which unbalances everything. Just look at r6s Lion at release, 1 button push gave the whole team wallhacks. Or look at Apex's Seer at release, also a constant heartbeat sensor passive, a wallhack beam which dealt 20 damage, stuns enemies, cancels/locks every enemy ability + reveals enemy HP for like 20 seconds, and an Ult which gives constant wallhacks in a huge area, whenever an enemy makes a noise in it. Basically a walking wallhack machine. When that happens, any gunplay plays a secondary role, since every one is depending on this one OP ability. In valorant particularly , it is 1st the Smoke/flash/eplosive or molly destrebution between characters. Some are Smokes only and others do "Flash go yeet". And raze goes all KABOOM literally. And with many characters, such small variety of throwables just has to be shared between characters, and to spice shit up they do the 2nd changing properties and executions of the same throwable. Best example are smokes, Viper smoke needs to be thrown and additionally activated, it decreases hp/shield of enemy players inside it. brimstone actvates 3 smokey by a press of a button, they last for ages. And jett throws short-living airballs which can be mooved midair and yade yade yade. With this mix, we develop from knowledge dependend lineups by the whole team, to a pathetic "i click three times on the minimap and shit appears magically" type of bullshit. Valorant is enjoyable but far from perfect. It is not for everyone but everyone is playing.

[@TheRealsNiperz]

Her abilities are pre-bought, but you need to buy these "stars" in order to use them. This is what made her OP I think.

[@richala2940]

Did you watch the video?

[@IridiumTV]

did me dirty with this one 2:07

[@Zen_436]

Chamber: "HELLO"

[@Thelegendhimself16]

She got nerfed so hard idk what you guys are talking about. Since her big nerf I haven’t seen her in a game

[@lawlisbetterthanyou628]

No one can ever brake a game the way Brigitte did to overwatch

[@ONURCATS]

sad that she only has 4 stars now i loved her so much... BUT 45 SECS RESET ON THE STARS???? I WILL NEVER FORGIVE RIOT

[@PPNComedy]

Sad to see the nerfs, she was the first added agent from Africa so I always had a soft spot for her, but the nerfs were necessary. How about some buffs for Africa's only other agent? Show Cypher love please

[@MebiManga]

You see the trailers where he always dies? Yeah, not gonna happen soon. Jokes aside, I feel his kit is really pretty great now, he doesn't have damage utilities (except the few times the traps do 5 damage and kill the opponent) but they really help alot with information gathering.

[@eg0lol]

remember the astra bug with the smoke in pistol round

[@noqtiz8233]

1:03 this is just BS Astra is ez one of the highest skil agents

[@noqtiz8233]

good vid tho

[@sharkador831]

The cypher/sage meta needs to come back

[@CrAzY799999]

Astra, the Brigitte of Valorant lmao she's so unique and I love it, but she really needs more than just nerfs. I think best they could do is have two separate kind of stars, wherein one is for smokes and the other is for both well and pulse. 3 for smokes, 2 for the others.

[@beesemurger2267]

Playing Astra is like playing a RTS

[@zackhanson5254]

I play RTS as well as Astra! So it funny you say that, because that's part of why I play Astra in the first place.

[@rishabhadhikari6456]

Agreed. Can't replace onions

[@tehjburz]

It's just fact

[@EnderPigMan]

Replace an onion with shallots. Not a 1:1 but definitely a worthwhile substitute at times

[@adjuax]

Instead of nerfing controllers they need to focus more on buffing those that are weaker. Brimstone got slight buffs with stim pack specifically then next patch they remove one of the 💀. Controllers are so essential to playing the game at almost any level but they have only 4 and continue to nerf them.

[@asclepius.dionysus]

>release agent which isn't OP, others are weak >nerf new agent into the ground making them as weak as everyone else they nerfed >repeat very saddening but should be expected from Riot lmao

[@alhassanlol7023]

@@asclepius.dionysus it is not happening dude every new agent will be op just like their main game league of legends wheb they release new champion they are always op

[@5hayzi60]

I played astra as main before taking a 4 month break from the game, just recently started playing again only to see her nerfed. 😢

[@beak6426]

she's still playable, you've just gotta be smarter with star placement

[@5hayzi60]

@@beak6426 that is going to be hard, considering the fact i have a brain the size of an almond

[@beak6426]

@@5hayzi60 LMFAOOO

[@bartolomeocannibal2060]

@@5hayzi60 well thats the reason they nerfed her =D

[@fascistzoomer]

That's not Jett.

[@almogleizerman2328]

2:42 no she's not entirely exclusive, the literally copied symetra's wall from OW (her ult)

[@avasdasgupta1657]

VCT APAC games are so fun to watch after the astra meta ended

[@ladderking]

astra isnt fully a val exclusive as her ult is very similar to symettras ult from overwatch

[@flarebear5346]

They nerf astra to the ground while jett has been overpowered since beta

[@Dynasty317]

astras are an endangered specis in lower elo lmao

[@captaininfinite8082]

I’m not surprised at this point, I’m not even playing valorant. I’ll be surprised when you say, This agent broke league of legends.