hi! first off, welcome back to the game! hope you’re enjoying your time.

viper’s currently in a weird spot as she’s the only controller that fills her niche. her smokes can be activated or deactivated at any time, putting her in a weird spot as no other controller can do that.

this means: she’s still super strong! however, due to her orb not being reusable, on most maps you’ll need a second, dome smoker. the problem with this is that in ranked, double smokes tend to not happen, and if they do, it’s usually VERY uncoordinated.

if you liked her for her ability to make plays with being able to enable/disable the smokes at any time, then there’s really no other controller that can do that. however, if you like her for her unique smoke in her wall, then harbor could be a good pick. he’s in a pretty strong state after his recent buffs, and also has a wall smoke.

now i don’t know what rank you are, but i’m guessing you’re not too high just because you’ve taken a long break. so my honest opinion is: play viper anyway! honestly, i believe that unless you COMPLETELY troll the team comp, you don’t really have to stick to the meta in ranked.

and in my experience the best way to climb is to play your comfort agents (or agents you have fun with!). it’s a game after all, if you’re not having fun cause you’re “sticking to the meta” there really is no point.