Breloof [#8]
Optic in 2022 built all their gameplans around yay on Chamber. The whole meta was constructed around Chamber. Team comps were built around Chamber. It's a very heavy investment. You had Victor practically inting on Neon and Raze just to set up yay for favourable fights. You also had one of the best IGLs in Valorant history behind him.
I think he could probably do decently on Chamber even on Bleed, but it won't be anywhere near Optic yay, because Bleed will not (and honestly, should not) build their whole structure around that.
I think Viper makes sense on paper for his playstyle. On most maps you just place the same wall and orb every round, and you can (de)activate them easily without having to unequip your gun. Players like Less (who also played some Chamber in 2022) do really well on Viper. He'll just have to become more self-sufficient.
im gonna disagree with a couple of things. I agree that the reason yay was as amazing as he was in 2022 was because chamber was the definition of the meta and his team built their gameplan around him on that agent. but what i will disgaree with is bleed not building around him. yay is a massive name and the only reason a team would pick him up after he underperformed in 2023 is the hype surrounding him and the fact he is still a very high-quality player.
i dont think that his playstyle fits any other agent other than chamber. like you bring up less as an example of viper players that have also performed well on chamber but less and yay have very different playstyles especially when you compare the teams they play in. with optic yay very often used the op on attack rounds as it helped to hold angles that his team didnt clear and allowed his team to get plants and execute sites a lot more efficiently. compared to less on chamber where he didnt use the op on attack and was more often the lurker. with less on viper his playstyle doesnt really need to change as he can still be the lurker, but with yay on (or any agent besides chamber) his role on attack rounds changes from supporting the execute to becoming the main lurker for the roster.
and i dont think that its that yay needs to be more self-sufficient, its with the purchase of yay, knowing his playstyle, having players like egoist, and requiring him to change his role means that bleed is not utilizing yay to support his strengths and are expecting him to have the same level of impact on agents that dont fit how he plays or how the team should be playing. if bleed put yay on chamber instead of skye against T1 and put egoist on a different role like initiator or controller, the outcome agianst t1 would have been a lot different.
yay is not an entry, he is not a support, he is not a lurker, he is an oper. that playstyle can still be extremely effective in todays game and with chamber receiving buffs in the last few months teams like KRU and T1 have already seen how chamber can bring a similar value to a team comp that the agent brought in 2022. bleed should be looking to set yay up into advantageous positions in which his ability with the op can shine and he can win rounds where his team falls short. yay on viper, neon, or skye cant do that to the same level as yay on chamber.
tldr: bleed should be building the team comps around yay and how he plays. having him on agents that contradict his playstyle and role will mean that yay is not as effective as he can be and will mean that bleed will struggle to get the most out of an extremely talented roster.