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Blog entry by Marian Lyman

Why The World's Best Gamers Have High Hopes For VALORANT

Why The World's Best Gamers Have High Hopes For VALORANT

Among Valorant's long-list of strengths, one of the major factors contributing to its popularity is its cast of interesting and unique characters. The roster is filled to the brim with personality, identity, versatility, varying play-styles, and unique and interesting visual designs. With such a vast and appealing roster, one of the hardest choices a new player will make is which character they wish to "main" and master. Of the cast, one of the most powerful and interesting is the fire-casting Phoenix. With a well-rounded arsenal of self-sustaining abilities and team-supporting abilities, Phoenix is one of the best characters in Valor

Curveball operates in the same manner as the other flashbang style moves in the game. Its utility revolves around a player's ability to communicate with their teammates. Tossing a curveball means that your teammates need to be right behind you as you rush to finish off the blinded enemies. However, curveball has some tricky utility with both Hot Hands and Blaze as you can toss either a fireball or a flame wall to dish out some huge damage on the enemy team. Using Curveball is a perfect way to set up some powerful combos with either your or your teammate's abilities, leading to some potential major team wi

Valorant has taken Twitch by storm as of late, setting new records for both streamers and Riot Games . Players who watch streams have a chance of entering the closed beta, giving testers a hefty slice of the full g

This was likely done to raise the skill floor for Valorant to draw in more players and make the gap between casual and hardcore players less severe. With that said, a coordinated team that uses vision denial skills frequently could negatively impact the gun skill this game emphasizes so greatly. Agent balance will be critical for this to not become an is

Riot Games is the developer behind one of the biggest MOBAs in the world, that being League of Legends . As such, the company seems to know what it is doing in putting together a well-crafted and team-oriented online experience. So when it announced a closed beta for Valorant , a single-life first-person shooter, many were excited to see what Riot Games would come up with. Thus far, Valorant hasn't disappointed, as the game seems to be a wonderful mix of multiple other shooters, while still being its own unique g

It’s still far too early to tell how much longevity _ VALORANT _ might hold as an esport, especially when competing with games that have established scenes like _ DoTA 2 _ , _ CS:GO _ and _ Starcraft II _ . However, with its recent introduction of a ranked mode , it’s obvious that Riot is eager to continue to fashion _ VALORANT _ into a highly competitive game, with the hope that such an emphasis will translate into esports succ

However, her ultimate packs the biggest punch. When her ultimate is ready, Raze fires a rocket launcher that causes a massive explosion wherever the rocket lands that deals devastating damage to those within the blast radius. This can be compared to Brimstone's airstrike, Minecoins but there is far less warning for Raze's incoming roc

Objective-based modes are a smash hit in any competitive FPS title, but most revolve around planting or defusing a bomb. It's a common trend for good reason, but Valorant has the potential to stand above the r

50_CHF_1955_obv.jpgIt's not an overstatement to say that T1 and Nerd Sreet Gamers' tournament was incredibly fun to watch. From Hiko's insane 1v4 clutch to EliGE popping off at every possible moment, VALORANT proved that it can live up to the hype as an esp

Both agents have vastly different abilities that help them locate players, but Sova is a must-have on any team. While Cypher's abilities may allow for more damage mitigation, Sova can ultimately locate players faster and eas

Players like sinatraa and brax, who were both high-profile signings, did shine but so did lesser known players like mouseSpaz's Yassine "Subroza" Taoufik and Prospects' Ryan "Winsum" Johns. It's possible that the rush for organizations to start bidding wars over big name players may be misguided. It could prove beneficial for teams to do their own scouting, and sign lesser known players for less mo

Even with the game's similarities to CS:GO , Riot designed VALORANT to be a unique experience. Although it's possible an established pro from another game will come and prove themselves the best, it's more likely that some fresh young talent will emerge and find his calling in VALOR

Gen.G, seemingly had the greatest understanding. Despite being arguably outclassed mechanically by Team Brax, Gen.G's defense often seemed impregnable and their offense would steam roll through teams caught off guard. Michael "MkaeL" De Luca's Cypher play was masterful, and the information he gained allowed Gen.G's defense to become a brick w

The event, which featured shout casters Alex "Goldenboy" Mendez and Chris "Puckett" Puckett, had a total prize pool of $25,000. Gen.G, to the surprise of many, took home the first place prize of $20,000 and Team Brax, which featured T1's own Braxton "brax" Pierce, Keven "AZK" Larivière and Austin "crashies" Roberts, finished second over

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