Viper still rarely played after buffs, but is she still bad?

Fariha Bhatti Published 04/10/2020

Riot’s tactical shooter Valorant initially featured ten agents, with Viper being one of the fan favourites due to her feisty aesthetic. However, Viper soon became the least picked agent and recent buffs are not helping her.

The toxic agent may have a sharp appearance, but players are not a fan of her kit. Viper is the least picked agent with a 3.2% pick rate alongside the initiator Breach, according to Tracker.gg. With a low win rate of 37.5%, Viper doesn’t hold a candle to fellow controller Omen, who has a win rate of 44.6%.

Viper has also managed to stay at the bottom of the professional players’ pick list. Tyson “TenZ” Ngo, Yassine “Subroza” Taoufik, and Spencer “Hiko” Martin didn’t hesitate to declare Viper as the worst agent in Valorant.

Since the official release of the game, Viper has had a total of five buffs along with other minor tweaks here and there. Despite multiple buffs, the controller agent does a lousy job at controlling the map, according to players.

Is Viper the weakest controller agent in Valorant?

Looking at the pick rates, it seems that players are biased against controller agents in general and not just Viper. Brimstones, Omen, and Viper linger outside of the top three on the pick rate list.

The toxic lady of Valorant may not be useless overall as she’s the only agent who has smokes that cause decay to the enemy. Her toxic cloud and screen can also be retrieved and reused, making her a valuable asset for the team to defend a site.

Her fellow controllers Omen and Brimstone’s abilities may overshadow the toxicity of her powers, but Viper’s ultimate is hugely underestimated. Her toxic pit allows Viper to defend the spike all on her own. The patch 1.04 update allows Viper to stay out of her ult for 15 seconds. This time window could help the controller make strategic plays, run down the time, and get kills on decayed enemies.

The buff in patch 1.09 added a boost to Viper’s basic abilities by increasing starting fuel from 50 to 100. The buff also makes Viper more manoeuvrable, which should allow her to move around the pit smoothly and efficiently in order to gain greater site control.

Viper’s abilities may beat out some Duelists as well. Unlike Viper’s molly, Phoenix’s flame helps him heal while leaving the enemy damaged even after the fire wall has gone down, an ability that Viper’s snake bite lacks. However, the power of Viper’s toxic wall to burn through the walls, introduced in patch 1.02, beats Phoenix’s Blaze by a wide margin.

Multiple buffs from developers have made Viper more viable and team-friendly. Her abilities require well-drilled teamwork and practice, making her a poor choice for solo queue. When picked in a full lobby, Viper’s vile toxicity can prove to be valuable in team play.

Fariha Bhatti

About Fariha Bhatti

Fariha Bhatti is a long-time gaming writer who loves competitive FPS games and slots with particularly fun themes. She got her start playing classic games developed by SNK, from legendary fighting game series The King of Fighters to challenging platform franchise Metal Slug. She now spends most of her time playing Valorant and Counter-Strike 2 while working her way through new slot releases to find her next favorite. Fariha has been published at PCGamesN, TalkEsport and ONE Esports.

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