astra is broken (best lurk agent)

#1

xraywal

Maybe not “broken”, but I believe she will be overpowering in the meta on most maps right now similar to how omen took over most of ‘24 & ‘25 seasons.

Balanced but with key traits that are irreplaceable with the current shape of the meta.

Her ability to lurk literally anywhere on any map while consistently being able to provide utility is becoming more and more necessary with how aggressive compositions are nowadays.

Her passive of being in astral form heavily compliments lurk styles that are related to these new comps abusing chamber, waylay, and yoru.

#2

SkyXD

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unfortunately 11.08 nerfed her to the ground and 6 feet under so she won’t be played any more than she is now

#3

KiwiJuice

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I think she's underused, Omen is just heavily preferred for his tp's, not for the outplay potential but because of baiting enemy util and repositioning. More teams are tapping into player comfort (picking agents they're good at). Fnatic is the prime example of this, boasters always been one of the better Astra players itw and they implemented her on split even when Omen was the dominant controller on that map. But say you're 2024 Sentinels and you have Tenz, you wouldnt think about putting him on Astra on abyss either since his Omen was so good.

#14

serot

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astra has always been viable on split, several teams have run it previously
if you wanted a better example, boaster astra on bind would work since almost nobody else runs it

astra util 1. isn't as strong as omen blind 2. is very readable and telegraphed 3. is clunky and slow to use
omen tp is not as strong as you think, it is mostly his global refreshable smokes and blind that make him exceptionally strong

#23

Pomshies

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Omen’s tps are not the reason pros pick him you don’t actually get that much value by tping away from enemy util since the util clears your position anyway it’s mostly just useful for repositioning in certain situations. His paranoia is why pros prefer him, especially on defense.

#16

Pomshies

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Omen’s was nerfed even more than her btw

#17

SkyXD

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as an omen main i don’t think so
i would also argue post-nerf omen is better than pre-nerf astra purely because he’s just a better agent with better abilities

#26

Pomshies

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I disagree but I understand why you’d say that. Imo there’s just a lot of untapped potential in Astra’s kit especially with how people user her dissipates so I think that played optimally Astra is better than Omen. She’s just a lot harder to play well so pros are probably going to keep picking Omen despite that

#29

SkyXD

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that’s true, astra has an astronomical skill ceiling i’ve seen those clips of her on twitch before
if that can be replicated in vct with pro-level mechanics maybe astra can finally see good use

#4

GodAwfulGod

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I feel like the reason she isn't a good lurker is because she's a traditional smoker unlike Viper so losing her if she's caught lurking is detrimental if your team isn't also running another controller like omen that can make up for her missing her smokes.

Also it feels like she doesn't really get a chance to lurk on most of the maps she's played on(Abyss, Pearl, Split sometimes) because either you are also playing Viper or a Senti which are usually much better lurkers on the same maps and you don't want to lose dome smokes early.

#5

akcolade

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its tough not to play the smoke character with tps and a flash even though the flash is mediocre now - since viper is on every comp you really dont need the extra smokes

#6

KiwiJuice

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Viper is not picked on every map. Never on pearl, sunset and abyss. Haven used to be 50/50. Only leaves split, abyss and bind as must picks.

#7

akcolade

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honestly i see viper getting picked up on sunset but pearl will probably stay a solo astra map

#12

KiwiJuice

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i used to love the harbor pick on pearl with the skye flash combo, sadly not viable anymore with new harbor

#8

JonahPork

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She is not the best lurker, she can’t take aggro timings bc if she dies the team is fucked

#9

serot

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astra would be a billion times better if they just turned the astral dimension star placing into a brim ipad or omen style placement

#13

KiwiJuice

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minimizing skill gaps is not what this game needs

#18

JonahPork

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“Minimizing skill gaps” like astral form isn’t literally easier to use than omen smokes form

#21

serot

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"skill gap" to defend an objectively slow and clunky UI

#19

JonahPork

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Astral form is literally easier to use than omen form tho wdym

#20

serot

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omen form is the easiest shit of all time bro, you literally have an arrow telling you where the smoke lands + you can use the minimap to line it up + you can move your character with WASD while smoking to adjust position

half my time in astral form is spent maneuvering trying to get a better camera angle just to make sure the star is placed where I want it
if you poll all smokes players I promise you 99 percent of people will consider astral form to be shitty and annoying to use

#22

SkyXD

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agree

#24

JonahPork

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I think most smokes players would tell you they don’t like astral form over omen form bc they can’t move while placing stars, not because it’s functionally more difficult to use. Astral form is very easy to use, it’s pretty hard to fuck up. You just put the center of your star in the middle of where you want and there’s leeway bc Astra has the biggest smokes

#25

serot

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on omen your smoke placement can literally go through objects to exactly where you want to place it
on astra I need to slowly drift around in astral form until my camera has the right angle to place a star over some elevated object on the other side of the map

I don't think there is a sngle smokes player other than you that thinks this man... If astra was accessible then way more people would be playing her

#27

JonahPork

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Astra doesn’t get played much bc of the communication required to get value on her and lack of selfishness of the agent. It has nothing to do with ease of placing stars. Also the situation you’re describing is genuinely ridiculous and not something that pops up often in reality

#28

serot

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that is also another reason, but there is a general consensus that she is not beginner friendly in general due to the inherent clunkiness of astral form

the guy who agrees with me in this thread says otherwise on the next point
every time i've run astra in asc I've noticed this issue, especially when placing one ways or cross-map stars

its always annoying having to maneuver around objects on site to place stars directly behind them or on top of them at long range
close range this is a non issue ofc

#10

RealBallKnower

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Best lurker is a reach when you have agents like Cypher, Brimstone and Viper out there.

#30

Vyse-Fan_In-more-than-one

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Brimstone.. As a lurker?

#31

RealBallKnower

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Brimstone as a second smoker is a very good lurker.

#32

Vyse-Fan_In-more-than-one

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Hmm... Brimstone is a pack controller right? Like his util has way more value with the team + range limit on smokes.

And if you ask about omen. Omen works cuz the tps are not usable for the team, and after throwing the blind that's it

#11

foythvlr

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i mean not really. she maybe will be used more in bind as a brim alternative and will be back to a main controller on split and thats it. not really that better on any other map she isn't already a main pick and isn't that good on out of rotation maps either (maybe fracture if it ever comes back? lol)

#15

CinnamonStew34s

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though we hvnt seen navi play int for a while i feel that navi shao is the world's best astra and no one comes close its sad he cant be picked by a good team