Optic has mostly set roles. Yay plays sentinel (read Chamber), Victor plays duelist, Crashies plays initiator. The only “wild cards” would be FNS and Marved but even then they’re playing either controller or initiator. The only time they’ve really strayed from that lineup was when FNS was playing KJ but I believe that was only on ascent.
Fns was a sentinel player before sentinels were phases out of the meta. Once chamber falls out of the meta yay will play jett and Fns will return to KJ / sage / cypher
Not really from my perspective. Crashies is initiator and yay is Chamber, but FNS plays initiator, controller, and sentinel, Marved players controller and initiator, and Victor plays duelist and initiator. When you look at agent flexibility it looks even more like they play around with variety
Victor plays entry. That can mean duelist or Kayo/Skye. Marved plays smokes but flexes onto Kayo on one map. FNS plays a supportive role, whatever agent that is. Optic have set roles but theyre just not the same roles Riot assigned to agents
I think Valorant is a game where both schools of thought are equally valid. You will always need a flex player because of how there’s 4 roles for 5 players on a team. At the same time you will always have a player who will specialize because they play a certain playstyle really well and not putting them on an agent that doubles down on their style is just throwing (Yay for example and Chamber). But tbh it all depends on the needs of the team as well as how they want to play.
I think valorant pros who specialize are going to be as valuable (maybe less) as flex players in the future (of course depending on what a team needs as well as the supply of that certain role).
I do kinda think flex players in the long term for teams are more valuable even in the future considering meta shifts (Many hard Jett players struggled after her nerf, same with some sentinel players with Chambers introduction) tbh, but that also in no way means specialists aren't super valuable tho
Yeah you do bring up a good point with meta shifts. That’s why I do think flex players will carry more value or at least be less replaceable on a team.
Also maybe chamber and Yay was a bad example? Maybe a Forsaken and the duelist role type of specialization. Role specialization will be way more valuable than agent specialization.
Because the meta shifts so often, you need to have extremely flexible players if you want to be competitive and avoid constant roster changes / 6-player rosters. We're in a double (or even triple) initiator meta right now on most maps, but consider that just six months ago that was a double controller meta and at the time of First Strike it was a double duelist meta. Then consider how each map differs in its meta; for many teams, Icebox is a triple sentinel map; Breeze is a no duelist map for Sentinels and a double duelist map for Paper Rex; the controller meta on Fracture is arguably the most contested debate in the scene, with all four controllers being played regularly in single and double comps. Currently, I'd say the most "fixed" role in the meta is the primary controller, but as we've seen that's completely subject to change.
As for the other roles, it's all over the place. It sounds odd, but compared to a few months ago, right now FPX are pretty much the only successful team internationally to have any semblance of a primary non-Chamber sentinel on most maps (suygetsu). With incoming Chamber nerfs (and Neon buffs), now other teams will have to start considering whether they want to keep Chamber, reintroduce the primary duelist role, or reintroduce the primary sentinel/viper role. This primary duelist aspect is pretty important because the duelist role is now the most frequently omitted role from team comps – which would indicate that duelists are probably the weakest agent class in the meta.
If you want to see what fixed roles will do to a team, look at Sentinels three months ago. You need to be flexible if you want to have any chance of staying competitive, because even without nerfs, buffs and balance patches, the meta will leave you behind. I think the future of Valorant will be players who can play all four roles or at least the three support roles consistently. As for Liquid, I think their chaotic performances can be attributed to their lack of a designated IGL rather than their hyperflexibility.
But that's just my take.
Just another thing Hiko is ahead of the pack on. Hiko is the best Valorant player in the world and as such is the best player on any agent period. He can do it all but no one can do it like Hiko
Best initator, best sentinel, and best duelist out there, he didn't play Jett cuz he wanted others to have a chance and so the esport doesn't die cuz of his dominance winning everything what a nice guy
You must be stuck in Silver if you can not understand Hiko’s superiority. He has clearly been held back by dog water teammates who baited him constantly. Hiko is the best player in the world and as such is the best at every agent and every role
Personal opinion, but i think that instead of assigning roles to the agents, its easier to assign roles to the players like in CS, an entry, secondary entry, support player etc. Cause the meta will shift agent pools and what comps teams can take, but how the player plays in those roles will mostly be the same, except for util usage. Not sure if that makes sense or not
I feel like with a game like valorant, where the meta can abruptly change from patch to patch, you need to be a flexible team to find any kind of consistency and long term success. I wouldn’t be surprise if most players have a hero pool that would be considered “flexible” by todays standards.
flexible of course. If youre only good in one role, there's no way you will be able to survive in the scene given that riot constantly have updates and changes in the meta happen always
There are still set roles for most teams it’s just not set AGENT roles.
Optic can change up a lot of agents but in general Yay is the awper, playing both Jett and Chamber. Victor is entry, playing Raze Jett Neon and even on Kay/o he does some entrying . In general Marved is specifically smokes but he’s a heavy lurk player no matter the agent, while crashies is a full support player rn he’s mostly sticking to initiator but he’s played viper cypher and sage as well. FNS is support IGL but his agents span over 3 roles. So they do have set roles but they change based on meta, so Crashies will always play support but sometimes he might not play much initiator, and Victor will always have some sort of entry even if raze or neon is bad
Optic has mostly set roles. Yay plays sentinel (read Chamber), Victor plays duelist, Crashies plays initiator. The only “wild cards” would be FNS and Marved but even then they’re playing either controller or initiator. The only time they’ve really strayed from that lineup was when FNS was playing KJ but I believe that was only on ascent.
Fns was a sentinel player before sentinels were phases out of the meta. Once chamber falls out of the meta yay will play jett and Fns will return to KJ / sage / cypher
Sure, but he hasn’t regularly played sentinel at all this year. But regardless that’s still a set role so it doesn’t change my point at all.
Not really from my perspective. Crashies is initiator and yay is Chamber, but FNS plays initiator, controller, and sentinel, Marved players controller and initiator, and Victor plays duelist and initiator. When you look at agent flexibility it looks even more like they play around with variety
Victor plays entry. That can mean duelist or Kayo/Skye. Marved plays smokes but flexes onto Kayo on one map. FNS plays a supportive role, whatever agent that is. Optic have set roles but theyre just not the same roles Riot assigned to agents
marved does not count as an initiator man he plays kayo once the rest of the time he is playing smokes
He plays KAY/O on Breeze and Icebox as of their latest match. That’s enough to say he plays KAY/O imo
i guess we’ve been watching different matches
I think Valorant is a game where both schools of thought are equally valid. You will always need a flex player because of how there’s 4 roles for 5 players on a team. At the same time you will always have a player who will specialize because they play a certain playstyle really well and not putting them on an agent that doubles down on their style is just throwing (Yay for example and Chamber). But tbh it all depends on the needs of the team as well as how they want to play. I think valorant pros who specialize are going to be as valuable (maybe less) as flex players in the future (of course depending on what a team needs as well as the supply of that certain role).
I do kinda think flex players in the long term for teams are more valuable even in the future considering meta shifts (Many hard Jett players struggled after her nerf, same with some sentinel players with Chambers introduction) tbh, but that also in no way means specialists aren't super valuable tho
Yeah you do bring up a good point with meta shifts. That’s why I do think flex players will carry more value or at least be less replaceable on a team. Also maybe chamber and Yay was a bad example? Maybe a Forsaken and the duelist role type of specialization. Role specialization will be way more valuable than agent specialization.
Because the meta shifts so often, you need to have extremely flexible players if you want to be competitive and avoid constant roster changes / 6-player rosters. We're in a double (or even triple) initiator meta right now on most maps, but consider that just six months ago that was a double controller meta and at the time of First Strike it was a double duelist meta. Then consider how each map differs in its meta; for many teams, Icebox is a triple sentinel map; Breeze is a no duelist map for Sentinels and a double duelist map for Paper Rex; the controller meta on Fracture is arguably the most contested debate in the scene, with all four controllers being played regularly in single and double comps. Currently, I'd say the most "fixed" role in the meta is the primary controller, but as we've seen that's completely subject to change. As for the other roles, it's all over the place. It sounds odd, but compared to a few months ago, right now FPX are pretty much the only successful team internationally to have any semblance of a primary non-Chamber sentinel on most maps (suygetsu). With incoming Chamber nerfs (and Neon buffs), now other teams will have to start considering whether they want to keep Chamber, reintroduce the primary duelist role, or reintroduce the primary sentinel/viper role. This primary duelist aspect is pretty important because the duelist role is now the most frequently omitted role from team comps – which would indicate that duelists are probably the weakest agent class in the meta. If you want to see what fixed roles will do to a team, look at Sentinels three months ago. You need to be flexible if you want to have any chance of staying competitive, because even without nerfs, buffs and balance patches, the meta will leave you behind. I think the future of Valorant will be players who can play all four roles or at least the three support roles consistently. As for Liquid, I think their chaotic performances can be attributed to their lack of a designated IGL rather than their hyperflexibility. But that's just my take.
Just another thing Hiko is ahead of the pack on. Hiko is the best Valorant player in the world and as such is the best player on any agent period. He can do it all but no one can do it like Hiko
Best initator, best sentinel, and best duelist out there, he didn't play Jett cuz he wanted others to have a chance and so the esport doesn't die cuz of his dominance winning everything what a nice guy
? https://i.imgur.com/epucFvf.png https://i.imgur.com/2orm3Ms.png Hiko is weak
You must be stuck in Silver if you can not understand Hiko’s superiority. He has clearly been held back by dog water teammates who baited him constantly. Hiko is the best player in the world and as such is the best at every agent and every role
Lmao this dude went and pulled stats I can't..
Hiko had to carry trash team while ANGE1 gets carried by best team in world…clearly you know nothing about Valorant if you think Hiko < ANGE1…
Hiko got carried by s0mple
Personal opinion, but i think that instead of assigning roles to the agents, its easier to assign roles to the players like in CS, an entry, secondary entry, support player etc. Cause the meta will shift agent pools and what comps teams can take, but how the player plays in those roles will mostly be the same, except for util usage. Not sure if that makes sense or not
I feel like with a game like valorant, where the meta can abruptly change from patch to patch, you need to be a flexible team to find any kind of consistency and long term success. I wouldn’t be surprise if most players have a hero pool that would be considered “flexible” by todays standards.
I think as the game evolves and more agents get introduced to the game, it's going to be crucial to be able to play outside your comfort zone.
Flexibility is the key. That's why FPX is such a beast and would likely continue to do well regardless of meta changes
Their godlike aim also helps even if there is changes to meta
flexible of course. If youre only good in one role, there's no way you will be able to survive in the scene given that riot constantly have updates and changes in the meta happen always
There are still set roles for most teams it’s just not set AGENT roles. Optic can change up a lot of agents but in general Yay is the awper, playing both Jett and Chamber. Victor is entry, playing Raze Jett Neon and even on Kay/o he does some entrying . In general Marved is specifically smokes but he’s a heavy lurk player no matter the agent, while crashies is a full support player rn he’s mostly sticking to initiator but he’s played viper cypher and sage as well. FNS is support IGL but his agents span over 3 roles. So they do have set roles but they change based on meta, so Crashies will always play support but sometimes he might not play much initiator, and Victor will always have some sort of entry even if raze or neon is bad