The initiators are balanced

...and I think most people would agree.

But then... why is it that Sova's pickrates look like this?

Ascension Americas: 58%
Ascension EMEA: 70%
Ascension Pacific: 43%
Ascension China: 57%
GC Champs: 60%
TEN Invitational: 75%
FGC Invitational: 65%
WALL-E Cup: 71%
Gwangju: 69%
SEN City Classic: 58%
Red Bull Home Ground (main stage only): 63%
Spike Nations: 52%
Radiant Asia: 80%
Shanghai Masters: 50%
Spotlight EMEA: 72%
Spotlight Americas: 71%

Now, this could just be the map rotation—Abyss, Ascent, Haven, Pearl, and Sunset are all Sova maps, and we're rotating two of them out for Lotus (not a Sova map) and Fracture (let's see how much damage EG did).

But when the pickrates for an agent are that high, it's usually not just an issue with the map pool.

The simple fact is that recon initiators are very very powerful, and almost necessary in the majority of team comps. And on top of that, much more teams are opting to play Sova than Fade—not just on Sova maps (fair) but also on maps where they can both work very well, such as Pearl and Sunset.

I wonder how this will change in 2025. Who knows? Maybe we'll get Sova nerfs or Fade buffs. Maybe recon as a concept will be nerfed somehow. Or maybe the new Colombian initiator will be another competitor to Sova and Fade (though looking at Riot's track record with new agents recently, probably not).

That’s a lot to read, somebody give me the TLDR

There shouldn't be sova nerfs, they've already nerfed him. The fact is the only other recon initiator's recon abilities are just not as good. The dart will always be better than the eye, the drone is better than the dog on most maps, the solution should be buffing fade. increase her dogs range, maybe make the eye smaller in size so it's harder to shoot, or make it activate faster.

probably because the meta always has been two initiators on most maps, and ever since fade got nerfed in 23 (for no reason btw) he was the top choice for recon. i think the main thing is that his drone is really overpowered and fade don't really have anything to cover for that

Duelist: Jett Raze again
Sentinel: Killjoy Cypher, and finally Vyse
Controller: Omen (no one way smoke), Viper (best 2nd controller), Brimstone (Niche pick for Bind and Fracture), other are simply sh*t

Initiator is the most balance. No S tier/D tier initator

ppl have played sova for years, why switch to a new initiator that wont give more value when you are comfortable on sova