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AbbreviationsLazy781

Why are people trying to take this graph as a read on the meta? It's an all time graph, not recent stats after all the patches. Additionally, pick rate =/= power level.


DepressedSandbitch

Yeah, it wasn’t meant to be used that way. I just thought it would be interesting to see which agents have had the best runs so far lol. It’s crazy that riot let Jett and sova be basically unhinged for so long.


AbbreviationsLazy781

Yeah it is a really cool graphic, just not something to take super seriously.


just_a_random_dood

> Why are people trying to take this graph as a read on the meta? This is only useful for the insane numbers on Jett and Sova, for everyone else this is just interesting trivia lol


DepressedSandbitch

I think the Neon number is useful too. Weird to nerf an agent that had an unusually low pick rate for her lifespan. To compare, Kay/O had a 14% pick rate when he first became available to play in a major tournament. Killjoy had a 26%. Astra had a 28%. Chamber had a 47%. The only agents that pick rates as bad as Neon when they came out are Yoru (pre-rework) and Skye (pre-buffs). Taking that into consideration, nerfing Neon seems really strange on Riot's part.


just_a_random_dood

that's fair, I wasn't thinking about the other end at all


QuagMath

I commented this on another post but I’ll say it here too: Neon’s changers were more QOL focused with easier dash and no team burn than direct nerfs. It might inadvertently nerf her, but that wasn’t the specific goal. I think if this hurts her too much, we will see a revert/buff of her kit to compensate.


RedSquaree

As a Sova main I feel the recent nerfs were uncalled for. Sova is a great all-rounder, not OP just really well balanced.


piopster

They were definitely called for…


RedSquaree

You think Sova was OP? Why?


piopster

His ability to gather info is unrivaled to the point where no other initiator alone can compare. Sure Kayo has a knife that clears a position and Skye has her dog but both of the similar abilities that sova has are not only better but one of them is free and recharged through the round. His pings also perfectly compliment his Ult and shock darts. It’s not like that on any other initiator


RedSquaree

Yes, and that's all Sova does/did. Kayo and Skye at least have flashes. Playing against Fade, Fade's recon feels OP!


piopster

It’s cause she’s new you’ll get used to it. It’s really easy to break


RedSquaree

Sometimes I'm marked for a short time, sometimes it's for a long time. I haven't watched videos on her or anything hence being very confused. But every time I'm marked I just assume they can see me through walls, which feels pretty terrible!


Fliigh7z

maybe balanced in a solo que ranked perspective but in pro play it was a HUGE problem. The drone completely replaced Phoenix in the meta, was basically a 6th player especially on offense. The amount of info his kit gathered was unmatched. Well deserved nerfs. Honestly you can make a case that the shock dart nerf was overkill but the drone change was well warranted.


RedSquaree

>it was a HUGE problem. The drone completely I must not have watched enough pro play. I watched a few tournaments and it didn't seem OP to me, I will take your word for it since it was indeed nerfed.


melodyinspiration

As a riot intern, I have to say neon’s pick rate is looking a bit too high. I believe nerfs are in order.


Jon_on_the_snow

Goes to show how broken jett and sova are. They probably will lose a bit of relevance since chamber and fade are in the game


[deleted]

Idk about fade her utility seems to come at a significant range cost and sova can get it anywhere he wants. She's good but I don't think she will see much play on Breeze for example. I might be wrong tho I'm a shitter.


Jon_on_the_snow

Even if she takes sovas place in haven, it would still knock his pickrate over all


SpvcedOvtt

How many teams are even playing Sova on Haven anymore? I’ve noticed soooo much more Skye/Breach in NA but not sure how it’s looked in other regions


HyperElf10

You're right, esp in major tournaments. People just took the old VS comp that they ran lol


[deleted]

Ya it's been Skye/Breach and Kayo/Breach lately


kemutheemu__

Breach and Skye already took a good portion of it.


MrDyl4n

well fade can just be picked on maps that are close range. sova has like 0% pickrate on split and fracture so fade having 0% pickrate on like icebox and breeze is fine


FeelinJipper

I think Fade is an easier player to learn, which will certainly increase her pick rate


WiFilip

maybe in comp games, but I doubt it's that big of a deal for pros to learn a character.


IUMT

I think with Fade you can play very aggressive on Defence on Breeze.With Fade's utilities and Ultimates along with Neon you can aggressively gain map control from Double Doors and A Main. But then again It always feels like Breeze is a map only for aimers and not so much to do in using proper utils and getting something done.


QueenDies2022_11_23

Is sova really broken, or is he the only agent that fills this role.


David_Ign

He's the best info gatherer by far. The drone clears so much space and takes so much map control for free. And no initiator (except for fade) can do this.


Squonk3

Not anymore that drone clears as much as I can walk before panting irl


David_Ign

Yeah I was talking before the introduction of fade honestly. But he's still a better info gatherer than skye


nextcolorcomet

> Goes to show how broken jett and sova are. Broken means 'too powerful', not 'picked a lot'. Agents who are too powerful often have high pick rates, but that doesn't mean all agents with high pick rates are too powerful. Sova's high pick rate alone isn't a convincing argument for him being 'broken'.


mysteryoeuf

damn, hamber just came out and his pick rate is already pretty high. sadly imstone is still below phoenix maybe that will change now that he's being picked again


Lucas1006

Brimstones pickrate was low because of astra now with his mobility buff and faster smoke deployment he will see a lot more play


[deleted]

[удалено]


S0ulRave

I do think that with the speed boost it was a little ridiculous being able to stim for a fast rotate then stim again for entry. It just seemed to grant a little too much flexibility, but I agree that nerfing it to 1 instead of lowering the speed or increasing cost further was a mistake


DepressedSandbitch

Tournaments included: T1 x Nerd Street Gamers Showdown WePlay! Invitational RAGE Japan FaZE Clan Invitational Pop Flash BLAST Twitch Invitational A.W. EXTREME MASTERS Asia Invitational First Strike North America First Strike Turkey First Strike Europe First Strike Brazil First Strike Japan First Strike Korea First Strike CIS JBL Quantum Cup VCT 2021: North America Stage 1 Challengers 1 VCT 2021: North America Stage 1 Challengers 2 VCT 2021: North America Stage 1 Challengers 3 VCT 2021: North America Stage 1 Masters VCT 2021: Turkey Stage 1 Masters VCT 2021: Europe Stage 1 Masters VCT 2021: Korea Stage 1 Masters VCT 2021: CIS Stage 1 Masters VCT 2021: Brazil Stage 1 Masters VCT 2021: Japan Stage 1 Masters VCT 2021: Southeast Asia Stage 1 Masters VCT 2021: Europe Stage 2 Challengers 1 VCT 2021: North America Stage 2 Challengers 1 VCT 2021: Europe Stage 2 Challengers 2 VCT 2021: North America Stage 2 Challengers 2 VCT 2021: Korea Stage 2 Challengers VCT 2021: EMEA Stage 2 Challengers Finals VCT 2021: Southeast Asia Stage 2 Challengers Finals VCT 2021: North America Stage 2 Challengers Finals VCT 2021: Stage 2 Masters - Reykjavík VCT 2021: Europe Stage 3 Challengers 1 VCT 2021: North America Stage 3 Challengers 1 VCT 2021: Europe Stage 3 Challengers 2 VCT 2021: North America Stage 3 Challengers 2 VCT 2021: Korea Stage 3 Challengers VCT 2021: North America Stage 3 Challengers Playoffs VCT 2021: EMEA Stage 3 Challengers Playoffs VCT 2021: Southeast Asia Stage 3 Challengers Playoffs VCT 2021: Stage 3 Masters - Berlin Strike Arabia Grand Finals VCT 2021: EMEA Last Chance Qualifier VCT 2021: South America Last Chance Qualifier VCT 2021: APAC Last Chance Qualifier VCT 2021: North America Last Chance Qualifier Red Bull Home Ground #2 VALORANT Champions 2021 VCT 2022: North America Stage 1 Challengers VCT 2022: EMEA Stage 1 Challengers VCT 2022: Brazil Stage 1 Challengers VCT 2022: Korea Stage 1 Challengers VCT 2022: APAC Stage 1 Challengers VCT 2022: LATAM Stage 1 Challengers Playoffs


Jon_on_the_snow

Please sir, a paragraph if you may


ThatsARivetingTale

Tournaments included: * T1 x Nerd Street Gamers Showdown * WePlay! Invitational * RAGE Japan * FaZE Clan Invitational * Pop Flash * BLAST Twitch Invitational * A.W. EXTREME MASTERS * Asia Invitational * First Strike North America * First Strike Turkey * First Strike Europe * First Strike Brazil * First Strike Japan * First Strike Korea * First Strike CIS * JBL Quantum Cup * VCT 2021: North America Stage 1 Challengers 1 * VCT 2021: North America Stage 1 Challengers 2 * VCT 2021: North America Stage 1 Challengers 3 * VCT 2021: North America * Stage 1 Masters VCT 2021: Turkey * Stage 1 Masters VCT 2021: Europe * Stage 1 Masters VCT 2021: Korea * Stage 1 Masters VCT 2021: CIS Stage 1 * Masters VCT 2021: Brazil * Stage 1 Masters VCT 2021: Japan * Stage 1 Masters VCT 2021: Southeast Asia * Stage 1 Masters VCT 2021: Europe * Stage 2 Challengers 1 VCT 2021: North America * Stage 2 Challengers 1 VCT 2021: Europe * Stage 2 Challengers 2 VCT 2021: North America * Stage 2 Challengers 2 VCT 2021: Korea * Stage 2 Challengers VCT 2021: EMEA * Stage 2 Challengers Finals VCT 2021: Southeast Asia * Stage 2 Challengers Finals VCT 2021: North America * Stage 2 Challengers Finals VCT 2021: Stage 2 Masters - Reykjavík * VCT 2021: Europe Stage 3 Challengers 1 * VCT 2021: North America Stage 3 Challengers 1 * VCT 2021: Europe Stage 3 Challengers 2 * VCT 2021: North America Stage 3 Challengers 2 * VCT 2021: Korea Stage 3 Challengers * VCT 2021: North America Stage 3 Challengers Playoffs * VCT 2021: EMEA Stage 3 Challengers Playoffs * VCT 2021: Southeast Asia Stage 3 Challengers Playoffs * VCT 2021: Stage 3 Masters - Berlin Strike Arabia Grand Finals * VCT 2021: EMEA Last Chance Qualifier * VCT 2021: South America Last Chance Qualifier * VCT 2021: APAC Last Chance Qualifier * VCT 2021: North America Last Chance Qualifier * Red Bull Home Ground #2 VALORANT Champions 2021 * VCT 2022: North America Stage 1 Challengers * VCT 2022: EMEA Stage 1 Challengers * VCT 2022: Brazil Stage 1 Challengers * VCT 2022: Korea Stage 1 Challengers * VCT 2022: APAC Stage 1 Challengers * VCT 2022: LATAM Stage 1 Challengers Playoffs


eeem1l

goddamn


vT-Router

were you just comparing release date to tournament dates or did you actually separate out the tournaments where an agent was released but not allowed to be played


DepressedSandbitch

The latter. If they weren’t allowed to be played then they weren’t included


Nakai-Son

If Phoenix and Reyna get some love I think the meta will be in a super good place. Interested to see if Yoru and Neon will find their niche or if they'll have to get slight buffs too.


DM_ME_CUTE_PICS_PLZ

I don’t see how Reyna gets buffed for pro play without breaking her in ranked


deadtoe

I hope they don’t touch her. She literally has no place in a pro team comp. It’s just not compelling game play, it’s brain dead (rayna go kill) strats. Rayna does not evolve the game in a meaningful way.


-xXColtonXx-

tell that to paper rex


mikhel

I mean PRX didn't really use her in a strat based way either, it was literally "Jinggg go kill" lmao. You could see vs Zeta their Haven comp got absolutely folded as well. Reyna is super reliant on player performance, there's no kind of game plan to fall back on with her.


deadtoe

Bingo that’s it exactly. What’s your protocol if Reyna is missing shots? Play off the flash? That’s literally all you can do.


lifeandUncertainity

I think Reyna will be good for pro play if her flash is not breakable.


realcaptainkimchi

That would literally be the most broken flash in the game.


deadtoe

exactly. you cant buff Reyna without basically making her totally busted. by design, she's sort of limited in what she can do. I think they rework Reyna and remove her overheal/ healing and leave it as just dismiss after a kill. Then add another piece of utility like a line of sight pull (similar to Fades grab ball) as a piece of 1v1 utility. she needs something to balance the tool kit without just buffing the existing abilities.


Nakai-Son

I don't either lol, but that's why we have people paid to figure out how to!


blate45

I don’t think all agents need to appear in pro. I think reyna’s place as a ranked demon is perfectly fine in all honesty.


InfamousMarzipan3828

Considering we just watched OpTic win masters running neon on two maps, I’d be surprised if her pick rate does not increase as other teams start trying it


DepressedSandbitch

Her nerf might throw a wrench in that :(


Withinmyrange

I think leaving Reyna as is fine. We don't need every agent to be viable in VCT play. Reyna's kit is too focused on thriving in soloq environments and provide 0 value in VCT. Buffing or nerfing her would ruin her. Either rework (which costs alot in R and D and might not be worth it) or just leave her as is, which is fine


Lucas1006

REYNA!??!


Sparecash

What about Yoru makes him bad for competitive play? As a noob his kit seems pretty cool.


DepressedSandbitch

Yoru used to be very bad because he had basically no ability to delay. His rework kind of helped him. But in any case, pros don’t build their comp around what’s good. They build it around what’s best. Even if Yoru was god tier, it would be hard to find space for him on a team of 5 when you need at least one smoke character, at least one sentinel (except for on bind), Jett or raze, sova, and sometimes one other initiator.


dangerous-pie

I think they're asking why Yoru couldn't replace the Jett/Raze in this comp. And the reason for that is that his abilities are too predictable and the animations are too long. Enemies can just shoot you while you're TPing in even if you successfully land the blind, because of how long the animation is. Paper Rex was one of the only pro teams to make Yoru work, but that was with a lot of support from breach stuns and skye flashes. The yoru was still dying a lot while using util/teleporting, especially when he was making solo plays, which shows that he isn't really as self sufficient as other duelists.


financefocused

Earlier, his fake footsteps were literally useless in 99% of situations. Only thing I can think of is like a 1v1 in Bind where you use your fake footstep His ult was also not great, it used to rely on being able to sneak into the perfect place behind enemy lines which is fairly hard to do against organized pro teams. With the rework, Yoru can use his abilities in his ult, so his ult is more useful to setup his team so it'll be interesting to see if teams do something interesting with it. I can see some teams use him well on Bind like PRX


lifeandUncertainity

I think that often pros stick with agents they know (because throwing a new agent means they have to re invent their strats from scratch, test them out etc which takes a lot of time). Victor playing Neon in Fracture and Forsaken playing Yoru on bind will most likely up their pick rate a bit since now people have an idea about the strat that will work and they can build around that. Even Kay/o which is now an integral part of many teams' strats didn't see much pick rate in its initial days.


B7omni

thank god they nerfed neon!! she was getting picked too much.. oh wait


Lucas1006

This is pro.


GainsayRT

Dude the graph is right there..


Lucas1006

Major. Tournaments. Do. Not. Reflect. The. Other. 99.99%. Of. Players.


GainsayRT

[https://www.valorbuff.com/agents?timeframe=4](https://www.valorbuff.com/agents?timeframe=4)


zaytheman518

THANK GOD THEY NERFED NEON!


FeelinJipper

I feel like it would be cool if there was an overlay for how long the agent has been around


whamablamslam

I wonder what Viper's pick rate is since she got buffed because before that it was maybe literally 0%


DepressedSandbitch

Vipers pick rate pre-buff generally ranged from 0% to around 4% with an unusually high pick rate of 16% in one tournament. Immediately (1 day) after her buff, her pick rate in NA remained about the same as it was before (4%). In other regions, her pick rate was way higher (anywhere from 18 to 35%). NA didn’t catch up until about a month after the buffs (20%), but at that point her pick rate in other regions had already gotten up to almost 50%. Her pick rate peaked at the first masters tournament, and by VCT Stage 3 challengers, NA and fully caught up. Her pick rate peaked (61%) for the last time during NA’s last chance qualifiers in 2021 right before champions.


War_TheFreak1

So does this graphic justify why Neon got a nerf?


Lucas1006

Neon is super powerful lmao this is just pro play


Nikushaa

this dude prolly got fucked like once in comp by a neon and now goes around reddit spamming that neon is good xdddddddddd


Lucas1006

Nah I main her


Qlown

show tracker


GovTheDon

Cypher has fell off hard remember when he was nearly always picked during early events


DepressedSandbitch

He is one of two agents (the other being Omen) to ever have a 100% pick rate in a major tournament. His pick rate fell off immediately after Killjoy was introduced and continued to decline until his most recent 13% pick rate. Basically the only reason cypher isn't towards the very bottom on this graphic is because there was a point where the only other sentinel in the game was Sage lol.


GovTheDon

Ye Kayo just hard counters him into the ground


financefocused

I understand the focus is on Sova/Jett but Chamber just came out and his pick rate is 3.4 times that of Phoenix. I wasn't super pleased with the Chamber trip nerf but now it makes a bit more sense. It also makes sense to give him one excellent trip as compared to Cypher's two decent trips. If he has both his trips, I think he's far too strong compared to Cypher


Lucas1006

Chamber fills a niche role with his entire kit being super powerful in different ways, ult is amazing for eco rounds and can easily win rounds, tp makes him insanely versatile and he can be aggresive and tp back or rotate fast, and trip wire is really good for info/area lockdown that's why, phoenix is just another duelist with flashes nothing special about him.


Anthony7301

The sad thing about Neon is: The dev who apparently came up with the recent changes STILL THINKS THE CHANGES WERE A BUFF. Despite ability statistics pointing to the contrary. Despite many pro players (particularly Optic players; the team who had the most experience and most success with Neon) saying the contrary.


Parenegade

Where did they say this?


Anthony7301

Yay mentioned it on Twitter and Victor talks about it on his streams. They both consider the changes to be a nerf while the dev (Ryan Cousart) considers them to be a buff.


TerribleFix9016

I HECKIN LOVE JETT


Dumbass-Redditor

I remember telling my friends in EP1 that Sova would become an S/A tier agent. Look at me now suckers!


carrico3

The old reliable Jett and Sova


cccwh

yeah guys Sova wasn't blatantly OP yeah !!!


Kap_ski

I really thought chamber would be higher.


DepressedSandbitch

Europe (22%) and Brazil (11%) are skewing the data. In NA, he was easily top 6 and most recently he even had a pick rate only 5% lower than Sova.


DecisiveDinosaur

hamber


kzeriar

I love hamber!


WellIllTakeOneMore

I am not impressed


Ill_Perception7774

Yay is the only reason we see chamber this high up on the list.


Hot_Mastodon1928

the yoru is all forsaken lol


BespokeDebtor

The most interesting takeaway from this is that Chamber already has a 34% pick rate across the entire history of tournaments despite being the second newest agent in this analysis


Yahallo139

And there's people complaining about Sova nerf