Valorant newest duelist Iso snubbed in the latest VCT Kickoff Tournament
Valorant pro players proved unimpressed by Iso’s kit after the duelist became the only unplayed agent in the recent VCT Kickoff Tournament.
Valorant’s most competitive pro tier recently kickstarted its 2024 season, with Kickoff Tournaments seeing action across the four VCT regional leagues. As the first-person shooter game’s S-tier pro scene, many players and fans look to the games to discover new strats and combination plays to bring to their ranked games.
Besides the greatest players and the victorious teams, the agent pick rate is among the most-awaited statistics after each VCT tournament. More often than not, the agent pick rate in the pro scene reflects the current meta in Valorant, and most players would follow suit.
However, an agent received the short end of the stick during the VCT Kickoff 2024. The newest duelist, Iso, failed to receive attention from the top players and received an astonishing zero pick rate for the group stage.
Valorant latest agents, Iso and Deadlock, sink in pro pick rate
Iso is not alone on the lower end of the table, as his fellow recent addition to the agent pool, Deadlock, only saw action once in the VCT Americas game between Evil Geniuses and G2 Esports.
Both agents notably received lukewarm reactions from streamers and the rest of the player base upon release. Sentinels’ head coach, Kaplan, singles out the agent from his role, saying that Iso does not fulfill the demand of duelists to “dive out of chokes.”
Iso’s kit offers a shield and protection instead of the duelist’s usual mobility kit. While Jett has dash, Raze with her satchels, and Reyna has her dismiss, Iso’s shielding capability is not necessary in a role required to clear and enter the enemy territory.
On the other hand, Valorant’s day-one agents thrive in the current meta, as Viper, Omen, and Raze sit on top of the pick rating across all four regions. The feisty controller even surpassed Chamber’s dominant era in terms of the number of times played in a pro tournament.
Viper may owe her skyrocketing pick rate in the current pool of maps – with Icebox, Ascent, Split, Bind, and Breeze all synergizing well with Viper’s wall smoke and decaying ult. Moreover, pro players found Viper’s decay and molly combo more viable for defending sites than Deadlock’s sensors.
But if you’re an Iso player looking at pro players for hope and inspiration, don’t fret. Riot Games is famous for basing its balancing updates on the current meta. So, hopes are high for Iso buffs, which may eventually put him on the map for ranked and pro play.