Two agents remained untouched at VALORANT Masters Group Stage
The VALORANT World Championship 2023 Group Stage revealed a persisting trend across the international play in agent preferences, with two agents remaining completely unpicked and four more barely seeing the light of day.
A deeper look into the data and statistics of the Group Stage offers an interesting perspective on the evolving VALORANT meta.
Two Agents didn't show up at all
According to the community and statistics website vlr.gg, both Reyna and the newer agent, Deadlock, held a 0% pick rate during the Group Stage. Following closely behind were Yoru and Sage, with a mere 1% pick rate.
Phoenix wasn't faring much better, with only 2% of all agent choices landing on him, while Geko and Neon clocked in at 5% and 6%, respectively.
Contrastingly, Killjoy was almost indispensable for most teams, boasting a pick rate of 64%, even with her noted weakness on Bind (0%) and Split (29%). On all other maps, she practically became a must-pick.
Other popular choices included Viper at 58%, Skye at 57%, Raze at 56%, and Jett at 51%. The silver lining on those numbers is that agents at least didn't climb to absolute must-pick levels. Any more would almost certainly constitute a balance problem the developer would have to react to.
A trend of dead picks continues
This isn't the first time Reyna and Yoru have been sidelined; for the third major tournament in a row, they remain out of favour.
From the pool of 22 agents, eight were picked less than 10% of the time, which is a rise from the previous six at the Masters Tokyo.
While duelists Jett and Raze continue to rule the roost, other agents like Fate and KAY/O found their niche on specific maps. KAY/O made a significant appearance 80% of the time on Ascent, and Fate held a solid 58% pick rate on Lotus.
However, Yoru's situation remains concerning, hinting at potential shifts or adjustments needed in the game's meta to bring diversity back to the competitive stage. For fans hoping for a diverse meta, the current trend is worrisome, as it points towards a more rigid meta the longer VALORANT is played competitively.
While meta is not entirely a feature of game balance, with social factors at play that incentivise teams to pick certain strategies more frequently than others, system-wide changes might soon need to be considered to shake things up.
That said, a low pick rate for certain agents may not be inherently problematic. Some agents like Yoru, Reyna, and Deadlock, appear to have kits more tailored for solo play, arguably making them better suited for the ranked ladder than professional play. Thus, an argument could be made that such a trend isn't necessarily unhealthy for the game.