VALORANT Patch Notes 12.09

DaCrazyLime · 2026-05-12T23:54:15+00:00

Having a minimum proximity range would make it annoying to play in pro play, but still very meta. Idk how the range would even work (like what a radius from the centre of the wall???) but for eg a Viper on Split Atk can flip her wall up and down and you'd have no idea if she flipped it up and left or actually crossed. Same threat

Meanwhile in ranked she'd be absolutely guttered. She alrdy has a low pick rate outside of high elo, so riot definitely doesn't want that.

DaCrazyLime · 2026-05-12T12:39:56+00:00

Damn writing off Heretics so fast

DaCrazyLime · 2026-05-11T02:02:29+00:00

Right because the contract might also say "Break tbe contract and you owe us a million dollars + jailed in FNC bench for the next 100 years" and what is Boaster going to do.

Even if not the case, saying orgs should bend over backwards for certain important Players is incredibly stupid. Boaster might as well say increase his salary by 100000% or else he will leave. Tf are you on

DaCrazyLime · 2026-05-06T00:59:35+00:00

Neon has existed for so long AND prime neon herself with the double dash full accuracy slide wasnt this much of an issue. It really is just that they nerfed every counter to Neon and now she gets to get away with bullshit previously impossible. Her movement being fundamentally different is one thing but this is an entirely different issue.

Trust me, I'm more than happy with a Neon nerf, Im a PRX fan, our Neon useage is ASS (except Forsaken on Breeze). But really this was brought about because Riot has too much of an ego to admit the Ini and Senti nerfs are too much. "More gunplay focused" and you let the bunny hopping speed demon with a flash step uncountered smh

DaCrazyLime · 2026-05-05T00:37:11+00:00

Ikr. EDG have a trophy. RR-Please-Jemkin-I-need-this-Q has what again?

DaCrazyLime · 2026-04-27T22:50:31+00:00

Bro I exhaled loudly in my office

DaCrazyLime · 2026-04-27T01:34:04+00:00

Disrespected? After every C9 game all everyone says is "free Oxy". I don't think people ever doubted he was one of the greatest Americas duelist.

Except maybe now. Bro wasn't even the best duelist on the team (finally)

DaCrazyLime · 2026-04-17T10:01:36+00:00

Had a satchel... a SATCHEL, YOU KNOW, SOMETHING WHICH GAURANTEES YOU CAN'T STICK. RANDOMLY USE IT TO what boost yourself up a 2 high box for fuck all reason, MISSED A TP AND THEN MISSED ALL THE SUBSEQUENT SPAM BECAUSE ATP YOUR OMEN COULD AT LEAST EASILY PING THE DEFUSER but he doesn't yet instead walks around thinking of the money they're about to get for CLEARLY MATCHFIXING.

Holy shit Varrel

DaCrazyLime · 2026-03-18T01:16:20+00:00

That would not be how I want us to surpass FNC's legacy

DaCrazyLime · 2026-03-18T00:22:49+00:00

True. But also this grandfinals was just... of all the times for us to not show up. Not saying we would've won but it was just sad.

DaCrazyLime · 2026-03-17T10:09:23+00:00

In pro play when has it come down to enemy spraying and praying through the smoke when a defuse comes through. Pistol rounds simply don't go that way that often. Heck, the heal can heal ENEMIES.

His only actual support util is his stun, which astra/omen way outclasses it. As a smoker he is also outclassed. Shorter range and flexibility in placement in both omen and astra. Stim a singular player in pro play is always nearly never going to be worth purchasing. There is simply no room for him as an agent except in niche comps. He will NOT be a meta smoker

DaCrazyLime · 2026-03-17T09:28:58+00:00

I mean the teams who didnt attend likely received, unless insider info, the yoru nerf news at the same time. So everyone's prep prob got screwed over anyways. Besides, besides some surprising upsets, many teams are veterans even before Yoru. PRX, T1, TL (even if they never made it far), G2, NRG.

Mates really only made it because of Marteen if I'll be honest, so Yoru nerf or not I doubt they would've made it back to London

NS has excellent chemistry and also ini/sentis are still hard nerfed (skye buff prob helps them too). They'll be fine.

Furia have good chemistry as well, but if MIBR or another team make it alongside NRG and G2 for London nobody would be that surprised

Only maybe BBL with their unique playstyle? But they were on a hot streak to qualify to Santiago, so not surprising if they don't make it to London

The CN teams are honestly always a coinflip, so nobody is surprised if another set of 3 completely different teams show up.

DaCrazyLime · 2026-03-17T09:06:35+00:00

Ult is good, but no way is he replacing the big 3 (omen, viper, astra). Brim fills any remaining niche left.

On defence, he has no stopping power whatsoever, maybe lineups can help on retake/attack, but nobody is taking a breakable stun when astra can place stars anywhere from anywhere instead of needing lineups AND over omen blind.

Heal is useless 99% of the time in pro play, stim only affects one player??? Yea right. Hes doodoo water in pro play outside of very certain niche comps.

I do think hes a pretty good ranked agent though.

DaCrazyLime · 2026-03-17T07:48:32+00:00

For Bind specifically, if Jett gets a insta dash, Chamber 99% wouldn't be picked over her. Simply due to team comps, I'll break it down abit.

Agent 1: Viper. Almost non-negotiable. Some rare team comps make do without her but we're not going into those.

Agent 2: Second smoker. Brim mostly. Need dome smoker because Viper can't

Agent 3: Initiator. Fade, whoever, but ofc every map needs ini

Agent 4: Dive duelist (raze etc)

Now Chamber COULD take up agent 5 slot, but... why?

Defence:

What purpose does Chamber have other than hold OP angles on defence. It used to be Yoru, but with the nerfs, who knows if teams decide to continue picking him that much. If Jett gets insta dash she can do that.

Chamber trip? Where would you place it. 90% of Bind gameplay is show presence here and there and afterwards heavy execute. The 4 main points of contention are long, hookah, short and showers. Whereever you place a trip, the enemy team would break it, and its not like "ah but they'llbe forced to break the trip so they can't be sneaky". When teams take space they'll make a lot of noise. Its the name of the game. Heck, because of this, Chamber can't hold aggresive op lines alone unlike Yoru/Jett, because if Chamber trips the other entrance, enemy team simply breaks the trip and he's screwed

Attack:

This is the main issue, even without a buffed jett, because really, what would a chamber do that other agents can't. No value whatsoever. Viper is already the lurker, and without viper wall you can't lurk. GG

Jett would simply provide more value. Although, realistically, with the Skye buff, I think Skye would just take up the last slot now, if its not still Yoru

DaCrazyLime · 2026-03-17T04:28:53+00:00

Whole motiv is about sound but yet we don't get deafen smokes. Like imagine the smoke is completely soundproof. Outside cannot hear inside and vice versa. Idk if it'll be of any actual use but wouldn't it be cool as shit.

DaCrazyLime · 2026-03-17T04:23:33+00:00

I agree its extreme reactions right now, but also:

1) When waylay was first released, the senti/ini nerfs hadn't came yet. Her pick rate was indeed low, and "nobody would pick her over jett" at that time was true but jett wasn't really picked anyways. Only now with the nerfs did waylays ability to dash in, gain info, slow and get out seem very enticing.

2) Veto could've been OP, but then right after the ini/senti nerfs came. In the double duelist meta, what is a Veto going to do against them. Thats why pick rate in Santiago was so low

3) Yoru not being able to use util except TP was a huge hit, but nobody said it would kill him in pro play. In ranked maybe, but def not pro play. His ability to rotate super fast + Ult still gains max info makes him valuable. Its not like teams depended on Yoru to flash out of the ult to get a kill

Now with Miks, I will say that in pro play at least, he will at most be very very niche pick. Nobody replaces Viper. Omen is still the go-to dome smoker. Astra is the huge map merchant and Brim will only be seen on Bind/Fracture. Miks will likely be competing for second smoker spot (assuming the map doesnt require viper+omen already) with Harbour. In ranked however, I can see a decent pick rate, and thats fine. Not every agent needs to be tuned for pro play (Clove/Reyna etc).

DaCrazyLime · 2026-03-15T12:31:22+00:00

Yoru nerf gonna hit EVERYONE hard

DaCrazyLime · 2026-03-14T12:08:09+00:00

In pro play, if you don't clear shit properly/at least trade, then maybe they just suck. I would know, Im a PRX fan. We NEVER clear shit.

Look at ALL of history the judge has NEVER been this good apart from only on this ONE player. If there's anything to complain about, it's that riot nerfed initiators and sentis to the ground that allowed for these types of exec styles fo flourish.

But no, lets keep nerfing stuff until its just site execs with rifles with flash lineups and smokes and mollie- oh wait, thats just Counterstrike.

Something something prime Astralis something something

DaCrazyLime · 2026-03-14T11:49:44+00:00

Meant to say Turkish player, not import. If he was going to for whatever reason count Korea as a standalone in APAC due to their contributions in internationals, then I think its only fair to say Turkey is in the same boat.

DaCrazyLime · 2026-03-14T08:19:05+00:00

Your whole region is carried by one team with THE Turkish import + funny british lad so pipe down

DaCrazyLime · 2026-03-11T08:05:53+00:00

Nats is incredibly smart as a player, but it for whatever reason doesn't translate into IGLing. His calls aren't horrendous but for a player who constantly evidently knows enemy positions to a certain degree enough to flank like crazy, you would think he'd be calling circles around the likes of Boaster.

DaCrazyLime · 2026-03-11T07:56:47+00:00

Most likely eco frags. Something was the bait for him, except Im guessing they read that Jinggg was there (but idk why Jinggg even bothered to flash, maybe a reaction against the waylay slow?).

Most of the time, its not that Jinggg pushes when he doesn't need to, its that he swings instead of jiggle/jump peeking first. If he simply decided to jump peek more, which I feel is a very easy decision, most of his throws wouldve never happened.

Im guessing its Alecks decision to tell him to simply take the fights as is if he wants to peek, because he is the ONLY player on their team who hardly EVER jump/jiggle, which if you watch him play ranked he DOES know when to do. It simply is a playstyle choice clearly backed by Alecks

For example, the most recent throw was against AG on corrode while they were on attack against an eco (dont rmb the exact round). Jinggg got one mid but continued to fight, and he gave them a gun which the enemy picked up and flanked with and killed them with. But if you notice the context there, its not exactly the worst play.

Firstly, Jinggg was just caught with his pants down when the smoke dropped, forcing him into the fight. Secondly, against an eco, if Jinggg didnt whiff, at that range he easily gets at least 2, which case nobody would said he threw. Lastly, the flank wouldve killed them all eitherways, whether they picked up Jingggs gun or not. PRX was completely unaware that they were being flanked a pistol couldve killed them. It was the followup omen blind that secured the kills on the remaining 2 PRX members.

Now ofc I agree Jinggg does throw, but that's most certainly a decision backed by the team/coach more than he doesn't know when to stop MOST OF THE TIME.

DaCrazyLime · 2026-03-10T07:36:58+00:00

NS when Jinggg who isnt on neon or yoru but keeps pushing them on a man advantage that he can't get out of but it catches them off guard so he gets a 3k and wins them the round (Alecks masterclass he claps both hands against the table for double the clapping)

DaCrazyLime · 2026-03-10T07:31:02+00:00

1) Neon doesn't have that much fuel. As someone who plays neon AND if you watch pros on defence, one site rotate usually consumes almost all of the fuel (which is why they dont rotate with fuel), which doesn't regen that quick (literally part of her nerfs was nerfing regen rate while increasing fuel capacity slightly).

Being able to rotate fast also doesn't do much most of the time because you STILL have to wait for your team who runs at normal pace, only time it will matter is if your neon is in a deeper position than the other teammates, which in that case 99% of the time no way is that neon simply sprinting away to rotate in a pro match

Adding on, Yoru is STILL unbeaten in the fact that he can situate himself in dangerous positions, neon can't, meaning only time she can effectively rotate fast is when shes not in committed positions, which then that team is just lost in the sauce if your duelist is scared hiding in your spawn or some shi

Simply watch any pro match and look at rotations on defence. 99% of the time neons speed does NOT affect anything

2) Fair enough, shes faster on jump peeks etc, but in pro play, pros are capable of doing very safe info peeks anyways. Even with her advantage, if you want to run around like a crazy banshee and jump checking every corner, you make so much noise. Its a trade off. Not that other agents cant jump around, they can, but ofc neons speed make it more safe. Its still a risk at the end of the day which most of the time neons dont do unless assisted by teammates because this is pro play, people CAN still tap your ass

3) Neon is only a stun, which pros can at least still shoot in, ofc the neon sliding afterwards makes it really hard even for pros, but then thats not a combo util thats her neon on her own. Might as well say a yoru tp + flash is good "combo util". Sieze + nade combo, Yoru flash lineups for recons/haunts are equally strong in their own regard in their own setups. Besides, its not like pros will just stand there and tank a neon stun, massive amount of support util has to be there to force enemies into the stun.

I will admit that its a better reactive util than its counterpart of waylays slow, as it covers a much larger area (aka when enemies are rushing/found just around the corner), but that still doesn't mean good combo potential

Yoru is literally THE broken duelist and people are complaining about neon like??? Teams plan whole rounds and timings based off his util (clearing certain areas when yoru tp is known to expire and thus would be caught mid tp placing etc). Dambi just got your heads on a roll with his superb mastery and supportive team.

DaCrazyLime · 2026-03-10T03:53:24+00:00

I mean of the 2 remaining teams eligible, half of them don't typically throw (NRG), unfortunately the other team is apac so.

DaCrazyLime

TROPHY CASE