People have to understand that Valorant is not a moba game,it is a tactical shooter and its core aspect is shooting. People complaining about NS and PRX saying that their playstyle is just "aim-diffing" their opponents has to be ragebaiting, both these teams have shown tactical depth and layers in their chaos. NS has abused the meta (yoru/double duelist), but so has other teams except for NRG. NRG also showed that playing off meta is still viable and placed really well during this masters, playing good anti and having probably the best gameplans after timeouts. This meta is bound to die after the yoru nerf, but it is genuinely more enjoyable than the stall/postplant metas with tejo and the old astra. I could understand the frustration if you just started watching valorant last year but this is just how fps games work, shooting to kill your opponents is the main thing these pro players are thinking about. Utility and set plays are important, but if you can't shoot you are more likely to lose the round anyway. Good news for the haters of this meta tho is that yoru is dead and maybe double initiator can come back, lwky hoping for a neon double duelist meta for london tho.
Defending this meta
well the fact that it’s a tac shooter was never the problem, the problem is that the most viable option is to ignore any and all strategy and ultra rush a site and not be punished for it because duelist utility is more oppressive than any other kind of util in the game
initiator util being nerfed means that it is much more difficult to gain info on the map without putting bodies on it, and sentinels being nerfed mean that it is practically impossible to defend against a full push that comes because those teams put bodies on it. it was fun for a while, but now it’s just boring to watch because it’s the same every time
at least in postplant metas you know there is some thought put behind each round, but now it feels like the only real option is to just push a site and then win, that’s it
now it’s just boring to watch because it’s the same every time
but isn't that just how meta works?
"every team just running around the map trying to gain as much space control as possible before full-sending a site, its boring because it happens every single round"
"tejo and astra meta is boring to watch because team would always play for postplant and spam util every single round"
Both of these metas suck, the tejo and neon/yoru meta were both oppressive and it caused for some of the most boring, uncompetitive valorant that has existed
Champs meta was objectively very fun because there was very healthy mix of playstyles that a lot of teams found success with, if the meta sways to one specific strat, especially one that is simply “i run into site and win”, it’s simply Not Enjoyable to watch unless you’re a fan of the team that’s the best at it
I do agree with the champs meta take but that meta was a direct cause of a drastically different patch being used for the event than the patch used for regionals.
It caused teams to scrap old stratbooks and allowed lower seeded and better coached teams to strive, mainly (mibr, drx, nrg). It also caused teams to have different meta reads which resulted in a wider variety of agents being played.
I do think that doing this in every event can cause a lot of upsets which can feel unfair for teams as they basically all start at the same playing field and seeding basically means nothing for them. It can also cause the level of play to dip as teams have no vods on the patch.
this meta isn't like anything you describe if it was double inti would be meta i rush into site and win isn't how double duel works you take alot of fights sure but you still are still spread around the map setting up lurks and taking all of the usual map space you would in any other meta to set up for a site hit
champs meta might as well be 1 in billion chance of happening and if i am not mistaken didnt have time to get figured out like double duel and get some what stale
also lets not act like NRG losing doesnt have anything to do with what your saying this meta has been basically solved for a while now
Thats the thing with every meta. Tejo got stale after a month, chamber got nerfed to the ground after 2022 and the same things happened to astra, viper, jett and now yoru as well. Patches defines metas and keeps the players in the game. Ik it can be frustrating but the teams have figured out this meta and the best teams at abusing it has made the finals.
Personally i am biased towards aggressive metas so take my shit with a grain of salt but finding this meta boring and saying that teams are ignoring strategies is just literally proven wrong but the fact that nrg made it to the top 3.
Of course, it’s not like i’m saying NS are terrible because they abuse a meta that obviously sucks; if a team is good at a certain thing that allows them to win, they should be rewarded with a win. this has happened with several teams like OPTC, EDG, NRG, and now with NS, and they all deserve the wins they got
that doesn’t mean we have to settle with a meta that is very obviously bad, we should always strive to want a meta that has some depth to it, one that isn’t just ultrarushing or postplants or whatnot
the problem is that if he most viable option is to ignore any and all strategy and ultra rush a site
wrong you refuse to watch the game if u think its viable option to ignore all strategy and ultra rush a site it is harder to stop a double duel rush but that is 40%-60% of teams comp specializing in rushes this is true regardless of meta if u give a double duel team space to rush in any meta they are likely to get the site
now it’s just boring to watch because it’s the same every time
comps wise a lil true but strats wise fuck no
at least in postplant metas you know there is some thought put behind each round
wrong there were alot of good strats and calls mostly honestly the weirder and wilder rounds get the more your impressed with the mid rounding from the igl
i wont act like there aren't a million fights being taken but lets not act like there is no thought behind there alot of layers here just because they aren't obvious doesnt mean they aren't there (applies to prx 30% of the time but prx don't count cause they have been at this shit and style we will never see the game like they do cause we don't have anything to compare it to*) proof jingg iq of boiled potato and working prx's system for years and metas
lastly if this meta was truly ultra rushing i go site i win or anything like u described it nrg isn't NEVER getting top 3
wrong you refuse to watch the game if u think its viable option to ignore all strategy and ultra rush a site
my claim is supported by the fact the two teams currently in the grand finals are the ones abusing this strat the most and looked so good doing it there are other teams that have tried this to lesser success
wrong there were alot of good strats and calls mostly honestly the weirder and wilder rounds get the more your impressed with the mid rounding from the igl
tactically it’s not entirely there but when the call is to simply rush a site there is absolutely zero counterplay because there is no util in the game that is capable of making enough stopping power to stop the full force of two duelists rushing you. with the yoru nerfs there is a potential for this stopping but there is still waylay neon with some of the most broken utility in the game
if the meta is truly like your describing it NRG isn't making top 3 with a style closer to FNC then what you are describing
watch it again just because the tactics are centered around fighting doesn't mean its just ultra rushing a site we are still seeing the same map space taken in the mid round and splits defaults and slow rounds winning rounds
if the meta was truly just ultra rushing there would be no point in fighting on attack of defense or taking space on the map if the attack ultra rush a site you can just ultra rush them back for the retake and run triple duelist two intis(clove is 3rd duelist)
regardless if a meta is just ultra rushing a site double inti would be more in favor
the fact NRG made it this far is a testament to how good the team actually is because they were able to make a run despite the fact the meta should dictate otherwise
but in the end they did lose to the two teams that have mastered and abused this meta the most and as such those teams are currently in the final
regardless of what you think there should be no reason duelist utility should be as oppressive as there is with barely any counterplay to being utildumped
also by the way, i imagine you’re also saying this because your team actively benefits from this kind of play so gg
there has never been a counter to getting util dumped and a double inti meta in particular the post plant meta would have more util dumping objectively
i can't get past the fact that you think all this meta is ultra rushing a site and i hit a site and i win watch this shit back dawg if that was true both keiko and jingg would never be off duelist and 90% the map space we see being taken by teams you say have figured out the ultra rush meta in these maps would be completely useless if they could just go main and win
im gonna personally watch this shit back when it finishes cause there is no literal way we are watching the same matches and think this meta is i hit site i win with out hard coping
at best its ultra aggro but very similar to double smokes/double inti in the map space being taken decisions with slightly increased weird rounds where the pros forget they are paid for ts
bruh OF COURSE it isn’t always gonna work because it’s fucking valorant LMAOOO random shit happens all the time, they’re in the final because it works the majority of the time and that’s why they’re winning series as often as they do; they can pull this off whenever they like and there isn’t any counterplay. a grand number of time they could just run at them with neon or be able to infinitely rotate and retake with yoru/waylay/neon because of how broken these agents currently work. yoru should not be able to easily rotate whenever he likes, and neons shouldn’t be able to take space for free when she’s already used all of her util
a lot of swing rounds are decided by this alone and the fact that it works this often is stupid and shouldn’t be a thing, regardless of if you’re a fan of a winning or losing team
shit like this DOES happen because of this meta and a lot of teams in santiago were doing this (NRG was somehow the only team not to do this)
honestly man, there aren’t any coordinated utility plays to take a bomb site anymore, it’s full-rush with duelists’ utility who are way OP and stand out since duelists were the only class not nerfed.
it doesn’t even make sense, “let’s nerf initiators and sentinels? ok, should we nerf duelists too? no!” and now you have a meta where holding a site is impossible and super aggressive teams that just run into sites get rewarded, it’s a dumb meta that only favors aggression, which was fun at first but now it’s boring and exhausting.
NRG was an outlier, but even they couldn’t handle it when facing two of the most aggressive teams in the tournament.
the solution is, either you nerf ALL the duelists or you buff the sentinels to a minimally acceptable state.
NRG losing to the two biggest meta abusers doesn’t disprove the fact that they also beat other teams that played the double duelist. They also stopped prx as well. Also sentinels had pretty good usage on maps like abyss and corrode which shows that they are not completely useless in the meta. The initiator nerfs was also caused by the outrage that some people had about util dumps, which now seems to be missed by many. But i mean it literally is how metas work, can’t really please everyone but this meta is really not as bad as people make it seem.
man, g2 changed their playstyle in 1 week and still made top 4 at masters. you think that’s a good thing? this was only possible cuz the current meta is one of the least favoring coordination and understanding, if you got firepower and play super aggressively you’ll succeed, it’s a dumb meta.
the whole sentinel class got reduced to a niche, and having a whole class underused like this isn’t healthy for the game no matter what you say, not for ranked or proplay. there are even teams that don’t play with a sentinel anymore.
everything as a whole would make sense if the duelists had been nerfed too.
It is true that G2 qualified after changing their style to cater to the meta. Still they had ample time to practice their new style before santiago.
G2 also had players that are good on meta agents, which allowed them to go on a run during this event.
Just because there aren’t as much sentis getting played doesn’t mean that they are just swept under the rug. Even meta abusers like prx and ns still use them on some of their maps. Also bbl and nrg is proof that they are still viable assets in this meta. There is a reason why teams that don’t play senti at all didn’t qualify or have a deep run in santiago. There is still more variety in this meta than others maybe except for paris and 2023.
If you genuinely think NS and PRX are just sending it and never use utility, im convinced you are either braindead or dont watch the games
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