Valorant as an Esport
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The in’s and out’s of Valorant
Story by Dash Spencer
our plane landed in Reykjavik, Iceland 1 hour ago and now you’re in your hotel room. You specifically chose this hotel for its WiFi. Instead of going out for dinner, you take out your computer and load into Valorant. This is the start of your week leading up to VCT Masters, the most prestigious event for Valorant.
ports scene. One of the largest Esports, CSGO, has a playstyle just like Valorant’s. What separates Valorant from CSGO is Valorant’s use of agents.
Valorant is a relatively new game developed by Riot that came out in June of 2020. Even with the game’s young age, Valorant has cemented itself among the top Esports. Valorant, originally known as Project A, takes tactical shooters like Rainbow Six Siege and mixes in Agents with abilities. Valorant is a 5v5 first to 13-round game where you are either on the attackers or defenders. The attackers will try to plant the bomb while the defenders try to defuse the planted spike or eliminate the whole attacker team before the spike is planted. This style of game is not unknown to the Es28 GAMERLAND 2022
Valorant is able to use a mix of abilities and raw aim making the Esports scene even harder to get into. You have to master a certain agent’s abilities and have the raw aim if you want to make it to the top. In Valorant each player on the team of 5 can pick the agent they want to play before the game starts. Each agent is equipped with their kit of abilities making it important to have variety in your team’s picks. In Valorant there are 4 types of agents, Dualists, Sentinels, Controllers, and Initiators. Duelists are self-sufficient fighters who their team expects, through abilities and skills, to get high eliminations and seek out engagements first. Sentinels are defensive experts who can lock down areas and
watch flanks, both on attack and defender rounds. Controllers are experts in slicing up dangerous territory to set their team up for success.Lastlt, Initiators challenge angles by setting up their team to enter contested ground and push defenders away. Valorant’s 18 agents are divided into these categories. Each one shines in different scenarios making it crucial to master as many agents as you can. The most skilled Valorant players are also the most versatile. In an interview with professional player Ultra, he stated that “In order to win you need to adjust to your teammate’s play styles.” Team chemistry and effective teamwork are already vital to succeeding in many games. However, Valorant takes this to the extreme. Unlike a lot of games, Valorant is not primarily judged by skill. Each player on a team will play a different role and you need to understand how your teammates play. Certain players will be better at certain things. An example of this is letting your support player push onto the site instead of the duelist. Duelists kits are made for an aggressive
