There was a trend going around in the Valorant community in which players suggested outrageous agent improvements. It was all fun and games until TSM’s Yassine “Subroza” Taoufik made the Twitter trend a little too real.
In a reply to a teammate’s Killjoy buff, Subroza tweeted that Viper’s ultimate, Viper’s Pit, should utilize the entire map. The ultimate allows Viper to emit a massive toxic cloud in a big area that lasts for as long as Viper stays within the cloud. Enemies inside the cloud are highlighted to Viper. If Viper’s Pit highlighted the entire map Viper would essentially see the position of every enemy.
But Subroza added that nobody would use Viper even if she received that major buff.
From the beginning of the game’s closed beta, Viper has been quite underwhelming. She was consistently at the bottom of every
agent tier list
because of the uselessness of her abilities when compared to agents with better versions. Viper had the lowest pick rate in competitive matches at 13%.
Since then, Viper has received several buffs. Her most recent one was part of
patch 1.07
just last week. The agent’s Toxic Screen ability is now able to be placed during the buy phase of rounds. Developers hoped the early placement and quicker rise would make her positioning a bit more mysterious to opponents and maybe catch them off guard.
According to CypherCam, Viper is still the agent with the lowest pick rate. At just under 23%, Viper continues to be picked drastically lower than other agents in both competitive and professional matches. She’s only seen 69 hours of playtime compared to Omen’s 113 in second-to-last place, leaving her in the dust.
Viper also has the lowest win rate on attacking teams. When it comes to defense, her supposed strength, Viper is fourth to last at 51%, which is a bit better.
Valorant fans have started to speculate that Viper will continue getting buffed in each and every patch until she is finally viable. She may become dominant in an unpopular meta that matches her abilities a bit better, some have guessed. It’s hard to say how Viper will ever become relevant as she is now, however, since other agents have abilities with similar utility except they’re more versatile and effective.
Instead, Valorant developers may have to completely redesign Viper if the agent has any chance of becoming a more popular pick with the competitive crowd.
Olivia Richman
About Olivia Richman
Olivia has worked in media ever since graduating from college, with her coverage ranging from traditional newspaper reporting to digital coverage of all things gaming, online betting, and nerd culture. She has traveled around the world pursuing that coverage, from the far coasts of the United States to the busy downtown core of Tokyo, Japan. Olivia’s favorite games include Overwatch and Super Smash Smash Bros, and she has been published at Esports Illustrated, Inven Global, EsportsInsider, Upcomer, and elsewhere.
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