https://youtube.com/clip/Ugkxu9hnB6VIihZMI_XHm8FlWrdPQbPr0ELg
thoughts?
he says it raised the requirement for how players had to think about the game and play around the map, with such an oppressive agent ppl basically had to be more careful and deliberate about their actions bc if they took a stupid peek or pushed ahead of their util they would be punished way harder than they are now
rarely a good take by gamr... but he's actually correct here. The same explanation can be provided to any overpowered agent meta, it'll force teams/players to be more careful in certain situations in order to counter whatever that overpowered ability is and think of new ways to tactically approach the game. (astra viper post plant meta is indeed a good example)
I understand what Bren is trying to say there, but it's kind of a stupid take by him.
overpowered doesn't necessarily have to mean best in the game.
Skye's versatility with her ability to get both info and flash as well as use her dog to clear sites and extremities, and her ult to clear out entire areas of the map or confirm where a hit is going or if a fake is happening makes her a top 3 minimum agent in the game.
KJ's pure stopping power with her alarmbot/molly combos to essentially stop any non-dive agent from hitting a site and splitting the push in two as well as her ability to get passive info with her alarmbot and turret as well as the retake potential with her ult makes her the top tier sentinel, no other senti can stop a push like she can
Jett's dash ability for entry and fast disengages makes it one of the best abilities in the game, and her smokes make non-dash disengages easy, as well as allowing her to live on site for longer on entries. Combine this with the maneuverability with the updraft and the eco round potential of her ult makes her the best duelist.
None of those three are overpowered per se but they are clearly the best in their class, the only agents where there isn't a clear #1 is controller
I’d argue viper is that controller. Simply because no other controller can smoke and set up like a controller as well. She’s very good on bind, lotus, Pearl, icebox, and breeze. She’s also usable on split and fracture. Running her with another smoke to compliment is too good and she’s the only controller that can do that
idk if viper is by far the best agent bc it's tough to run her by herself. you can run solo KJ, solo Jett, or solo Skye and still be equally as effective as a double senti, double dive, or double initiator comp, but solo Viper is very difficult due to how rigid her setups have to be. On CT side it's not as bad, her walls covers so much space and she still has the orb that the need to setup these things isn't terrible, but on T side it's an absolute nightmare to go solo viper. You have to preset her wall, and when you throw her wall then you are almost telegraphing exactly which site you are going to try to end and you have little flexibility in terms of fakes or if you want to dynamically take map control off a midround call. When you place her wall, you are putting all your chips on the table and there's very little you can do to back out of it.
he is technically right since the comps got stale during chamber meta leading to teams playing the game more like counter strike since everyone knows each other's strats. so teams became better at dealing with AWPs and angle holders which they couldnt if chamber wasnt abused. But it wasnt good for the game, the views were going down and interest in pro scene was slightly declining. A good indicator is the amount of interest in LOCKIN// & the comps in it, masters tokyo, even challengers (which most franchised coaches are watch partying) for new ideas. This is all due to the chamber nerf. I also like that they buffed slightly to make him more viable.
I don't think it's necessarily true that the chamber meta was what caused lower interest in VCT, through the 3 years we've had so far of international play, the peak viewership was achieved in Champions 2022 GF, and Champions 2022 also had the highest average viewership, which was when the chamber meta was slightly falling but still high with 67%. Copenhagen 2022 had the lowest average and peak viewership, but a dip in viewership is consistent with the other years, where the 2nd tournament (Berlin 2021, Copenhagen 2022, and Tokyo 2023) had lower viewership numbers than the others. Reykjavik 2022 did haver fewer viewers than Reykjavik 2021, but that's an unfair comparison imo; Reykjavik 2021 was the first time that valorant had an international tournament, and the novelty of this probably inflated the numbers. I also believe a similar thing to Lock/In, the novelty of the format as well as the idea that EVERY partnered team was at this event, including the fact that this was the first event of the franchising era probably inflated the hype much more than it would have if it was a normal tournament.
I agree, maybe the player count avg pre and post nerf could give us better statistics but I think the nerf was healthy to the game overall. Similar to the A41S nerf in CS, that was the big one which brought back a lot of players to CS and it made the tournament viewers after the nerf a bit higher than avg. It was a good change imo.
He's not entirely wrong.
The amount of teams unable to play this meta well is shocking, it's honestly a shame because it is a pretty diverse meta.
Chamber for me felt like playing chess with just the queen + king + pawns, it allowed teams to simplify the game down a little bit more.
There's more individuality in this meta but also the game has progressed and people are approaching the game in more ways.
more teams can play this meta it's just that some chambers forgot how to entry and lost their role on a team
honestly feel like valorant as a whole besides for fnatic is super level atm could see teams like T1 upsetting the huge favorites besides FNC at champs
chamber = whoever wins a first duel wins unless you're prx
It might feel more visible because of the vct league format but there are some teams that generally struggle.
Some of these lcq games are generally a chore to watch.
A lot of the games are won based on making less mistakes than the opponent instead of outplays.
Chamber i agree was pretty boring though, especially with how long he dominated for.