From one Sentinel to another: Killjoy dominates the Valorant agent pick rates Worldwide
If a single agent is synonymous with the Valorant 2022 season, the agent has to be Chamber. Launched on 21st November 2021, with Patch 3.10, Chamber shone throughout the year. After Optic Gaming dominated the first International LAN of 2022 with Chamber at its helm, Chamber became a compulsory pick on all the maps. The agent dominated the rest of the LANs for the rest of the year.
In the final patch of 2022, Riot decided to put a nail in Chamber's coffin, completely nerfing the agent. The community rejoiced. After the patch, A new Sentinel, or rather an old one, is starting to dominate the agent pick rates worldwide. Killjoy, a fellow Sentinel, has shown pick rates higher than Chambers. Killjoy is a robust site anchor and can single-handedly fend off an enemy attack.
Understanding the Sentinel - Killjoy:
Like any sentinel, the Killjoy kit emphasizes area control and flank control. The agent's signature ability is a turret that fires at an enemy in the Vision cone. The agent kit also features an alarm bot and two damage-dealing swarm grenades. The agent holds the incoming attack while dealing damage to the attacking force. On defense, the turret watches flanks.
The agent's ultimate ability lockdown creates a forcefield and temporarily paralyzes the agent caught in the forcefield. Initially, the ability was exceedingly vulnerable to agent abilities. The increase to the Lockdown's HP in the recent patch changed this. The buffs made the ult hard to break the Lockdown without a Brimstone/Sova ult. The only other counter to this is the perfect use of Raze's nade and satchels.
The ever-increasing pick rate of Killjoy:
As discussed earlier, while Killjoy isn't as oppressive as a Chamber during the Chamber meta, Killjoy is getting most picked. At the recent Valorant NA challengers Qualifiers, the pick rate of Killjoy was a whopping 69%. This trend has been observed at multiple challengers leagues around the world.
During the first week of the Regular season of Valorant Challengers Korea, Killjoy saw a pick rate of 55%, which was the highest among the agents. At the Ludwig X Tarik Invitational, the agent saw a pick rate of 59%, again the highest amongst the agents. Similar scenes were observed in Japan, Europe Challenger Leagues, etc.
This trend will likely continue at the VCT LOCK//IN event in Sao Paulo. The main reason behind the trend is the lack of a counter for the agent's Lockdown. As discussed earlier, the opponent team needs to burn one of their ultimates (Sova/Brim) to counter Killjoy's Lockdown.
Another primary reason for the trend is the lack of an alternative to Killjoy. Cypher, while being good, gets little value, and the agent's ultimate is less effective than Killjoy. Chamber, since the patch, is easily counterable. Sage is not an "Anchoring" Sentinel. Leaving teams and players with Killjoy to get maximum value out of the agent.
While it might be a bit concerning, Killjoy isn't nearly as oppressive as Chamber. Additionally, the composition is not centered around Killjoy and leaves room for interesting compositions. Going into VCT LOCK//IN, it will be interesting to see the compositions the top teams of Valorant Competitive come up with. The tournament is two weeks away, and teams are preparing their hardest to win it all and start the year with a bang.