The opening event of the 2023 franchised VCT already has a very totally different look from the final VCT event in Istanbul final yr. The format is new, gamers have shuffled round, and there are seemingly much more surprises in retailer.
The huge query on everybody’s thoughts is what the meta will appear like for the most effective VALORANT gamers on the planet. Previously, Chamber dominated the meta, and the largest stars of the 2022 season stored pulling out the Tour de Force on their solution to aces and clutches for his or her groups.
But a number of months later, Chamber shouldn’t be the identical agent he as soon as was. After a slew of smaller nerfs chipped away at his energy however didn’t take away him from the pool fully, Riot lastly introduced the hammer down in December of final yr.
And all the professionals appear to agree: Chamber is now not within the meta.
“Chamber last year was extremely OP, to the point where he needed the nerf,” mentioned Gen.G’s k1Ng through a translator throughout Sunday’s VCT press convention. “I feel like with all the nerfs coming to him, Jett, the former OP agent… we will see her a lot. I feel like a lot of teams will pull out Jett.”
K1Ng appeared pretty satisfied that Jett, the once-powerful top-picked agent of the previous, will likely be making a comeback. Her escapability is now arguably higher than Chamber’s since she will sprint at any time. And an Operator in a Jett participant’s fingers may as soon as once more be extra lethal than Chamber’s Ultimate rifle.
Players like yay, the Cloud9 star who made a reputation for himself final yr with OpTic, have even joked concerning the inevitable meta-change. Yay was nearly infamously generally known as a Chamber one-trick, however he’s not frightened concerning the season forward.
“I’ve been playing Chamber for 14 hours a day for the last year,” yay mentioned, laughing. He mentioned he was really comfortable to see the nerf.
As for if Jett will return because the go-to choose for prime fraggers throughout the league, some gamers aren’t fairly positive. DRX, the Korean crew that continued to outperform extraordinarily robust opponents final yr, has top-of-the-line Jett gamers within the enterprise on their roster. Though perhaps not fairly to the identical degree of fame as Seoldam, the “Korean Jett,” DRX’s Rb has confirmed his experience on the agent a number of occasions on the largest phases.
Despite having a terrific Jett participant on their roster with a ton of prior expertise, Rb’s teammate stax doesn’t fairly suppose the meta is headed of their favor.
“Honestly, I think Jett is good now, but I don’t see Jett being as explosive as Chamber used to be,” stax mentioned to the media through translation. “So I think there is a world where we see less and less of Jett, and see other agents step up.”
Stax didn’t say which brokers he thought may make a optimistic impression throughout the subsequent few weeks of LOCK//IN, however the door actually is open. If the final playstyle of groups continues to be what it was when Chamber is meta, Jett actually might turn into in style once more. But we don’t know if methods look fully totally different this yr.
For now, we’re nonetheless ready to see who the “next Chamber” will likely be.
