is it just preference or is one statistically better?
Depends on the map and what sites/angles you plan on holding round to round but thats just me.
There's a phase where you like one better than the other and then there's the "Ykw both these are bad I'll just use the superior weapon, Guardian" phase which I'm in rn
the next phase is realizing the vandal is just a full-auto guardian, and that you just finished your training arc
phantom is objectively better but i will be a vandal player till the day i die
close fights phantom, long fights then vandal. ultimately it doesn't really matter that much tho.
phantom is overrated, it's better but not better enough for u to switch if u don't want to
Phantom is deffo better but I think vandal is a bigger mental buff
vandal is better on higher ping i think. i play on 60 ping and sometimes the phantom is just so unusable at long range, legit impossible to get a kill. vandal is just more reliable.
phantom is better for everything except long range fights
at the end of the day personal preference plays a huge role
this stat was really weird https://www.reddit.com/r/ValorantCompetitive/comments/1ixzmvz/is_the_vandal_better_than_the_phantom/