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Category: Valorant

New VALORANT Agent Killjoy – All abilities revealed

Posted on by Nathan Bonello

Yesterday, VALORANT data miners found information and footage regarding the newest agent coming to VALORANT in Act 2, Killjoy. Here below are all the abilities:

Ability details

  • Alarmbot (C) – Killjoy throws a deployable drone that detects enemies that enter its range. If an enemy is caught in its range the alarmbot will damage and render them “vulnerable to double damage from all sources”. According to data miners, it is stated that the alarmbot will cost 200 credits.
  • Turret (Q) – Killjoy deploys a turret which will be able to shoot down enemies which are in range of its 180-degree cone. It has a total of 125HP and will deal 8 damage if in very close range, 6 damage in 20 meters range, and 4 damage in 35+ meters.
  • Nanoswarm (E) – Killjoy throws a grenade which turns invisible once placed, it can then be activated to release a swarm of nanobots which damage all enemies in its radius.
  • Lockdown (X) – This is Killjoy’s ultimate ability which costs 7 ultimate points. She places a device that traps all enemies in its radius for about 8 seconds and once activated disarms all enemies within its boundaries. Important to bear in mind that the device has 150 HP and can be destroyed by enemies.
Turret
Credits: Riot Games

VALORANT Community reaction

Upon release of the above footage, the entire community was confused as to why this is Riot’s approach for a tactical FPS, and rightfully so, as Riot Games had promised that the game would be about gunplay, and not damaging/killing abilities.

What are your thoughts?

Personally I feel like a new agent will keep the community active and interested in the game, however I think that the game does not need robots and turrets to hold down bomb sites. This new agent Killjoy is very interesting, and it will certainly shake up the current agent pool in the pro scene. Can’t wait till she is fully released in Act 2 on the 4th of August.

The FaZe Clan Valorant Invitational – $50,000 On the Line

Posted on by Gabriel Sciberras

Currently, the VALORANT Ignition Series Invitationals just keep on coming. Unsurprisingly, the popularity of the VALORANT Invitationals continues to grow. Now, FaZe Clan are hosting one of their own. To clarify, read on for the announcement concerning the FaZe Clan VALORANT Invitational!

Obviously, with $50,000, the stakes are higher than ever. A total of roughly 11 events in the VALORANT Ignition Series have been held. In addition, FaZe is inviting the top talent in North America to battle it out from the 6th to the 9th August.

At the moment, applications open now for one of the 16 spots. In fact, the giant sponsors of Nissan and Verizon back the event. By and large, this should help the event massively.

Credits: FaZe Clan Twitter

Respectively, below is a graphic showing off the format to be utilized. In general, it’s as expected.

fazevalo
Credits: FaZe Clan Event Page

Supposedly, the event is a perfect opportunity for FaZe Clan’s new VALORANT roster to stretch its legs. Furthermore, their main roster consists of 4 main players so far:

  • Jimmy “Marved” Nguyen
  • Zachary “ZachaREEE” Lombardo
  • Jason “JasonR” Ruchelski
  • Corey “corey” Nigra

Unfortunately, the team is missing one more permanent member. Also, the roster looks to improve on their 4th place finish at T1 x Nerd Street Gamers Showdown.

Also, more information will be revealed soon. Expectedly, teams will begin applying as the hype builds up.

In summary, the FaZe Clan VALORANT Invitational is going to be awesome!

Also, to read more, visit https://www.esportsguide.com/.

Sentinels surpass expectations to win PAX Arena invitational

Posted on by Nathan Bonello

The PAX Arena Invitational has finally come to a conclusion and after an intense series between the two talented rosters of Sentinels and Cloud9, Sentinels come out on top.

Final standings + winnings

  • 1st – Sentinels – $10,000
  • 2nd – Cloud9 – $5,000
  • 3rd-4th – Team SoloMid – $3,000
  • 3rd-4th – Homeless – $3,000
  • 5th-8th – Gen.G Esports – $1,000
  • 5th-8th – Team Envy – $1,000
  • 5th-8th – T1 Esports – $1,000
  • 5th-8th – Immortals – $1,000
  • 9th-12th – Mixup
  • 9th-12th – Way 2 French
  • 9th-12th – Complexity Gaming
  • 9th-12th – Built By Gamers
  • 13th-16th – 100 Thieves
  • 13th-16th – Renegades
  • 13th-16th – Prospects
  • 13th-16th – Echo 8
  • 17th-20th – 100 Blifted
  • 17th-20th – Team Owl
  • 17th-20th – Team Kephrii
  • 17th-20th – Team Mang0

How did Sentinels do it?

The Sentinels roster kicked off the event by going 5-0 in groups, defeating the likes of Team Owl, Renegades, Complexity, and Cloud9. After the group stage, Sentinels advanced to the Quarterfinals stage where they would meet Gen.G. The series ended 2-1 in the favor of Sentinels and they progressed through the Semifinals where they would face off TSM’s mighty roster. Despite TSM’s previous performances, they were no match for the talented Sentinels squad, as TSM lost both maps (13-3 & 13-4). 

This win meant that Sentinels would be going up against the fearsome Cloud9 in a best of 5. Maps were: Ascent, Haven, Bind, Split, and then Haven again as a 5th. Ascent was a very close match which ended with SicK having a great final round:

Haven was won by Cloud9 13-6, but it was immediately followed by a 13-11 win on Bind for Sentinels. Split was the final map of the series and Sentinels was just unstoppable, winning the map 13-7 and being crowned champions of the PAX Arena Invitational.

Upsets and Disappointing results

There were quite a few upsetting results during the PAX Arena Invitational, some being: 100 Thieves not making it out of groups, T1 losing the Quarterfinals to Homeless, TSM getting demolished by Sentinels, and more. It seems like the North American scene still hasn’t settled, and we’re seeing a lot of new teams rising very quickly.

Make sure you stay tuned to www.esportsguide.com to stay updated with all the latest esports news!

Professional Valorant players Phox and W3ak permanently banned for cheating

Posted on by Nathan Bonello

Yesterday evening one of Echo 8’s players, Phox tweeted out a twitlonger stating that his mental health has been really bad, and that he will be taking a break from professional VALORANT to focus on his studies. For all that would like to read his statement, here it is:

After a few minutes, Matt Paoletti, a Riot employee which works on Riot’s anti-cheat tweeted the following:

Immediately after Matt’s tweet stating that Phox was cheating, W3ak, Phox’s teammate released a statement saying the following:

Not gonna try to prolong this anymore. None of our teammates knew we were cheating. I got a message from phox this morning saying he got banned, so I checked if I was too. I have now logged in to being banned, thought I could play it off.

W3ak

Phox and W3ak are the first professional players to get caught cheating after spending numerous hours playing VALORANT. What’s more concerning is that Riot’s anti-cheat is not working well enough. If people like Phox and W3ak can keep cheating their way to win tournaments and events with huge prize pools, who’s going to stop them? The anti-cheat must improve, and Riot Games have to act now, before there are more cases like these.

Credits to TalkEsports
Credit: TalkEsports

G2 esports crowned champions of WePlay Valorant invitational

Posted on by Nathan Bonello

This past weekend we saw the best European Valorant teams battling it all out for a share of the $50,000 USD prize pool, as well as having the best team in Europe as their title. After an intense Finals, G2 managed to come out on top displaying some of the best Valorant gameplay we’ve ever seen. Here’s how it all went down:

Final placements + winnings:

  • 1st – G2 Esports – $25,000
  • 2nd – fish123 – $15,000
  • 3rd-4th – Ninjas in Pyjamas – $5,000
  • 3rd-4th – need more DM – $5,000
  • 5th-6th – nolpenki
  • 5th-6th – PartyParrots
  • 7th-8th – forZe
  • 7th-8th – Prodigy

How did they do it?

G2 kicked off the WePlay Valorant invitational by winning 3 matches in group stage. 1st versus Nolpenki, 2nd versus PartyParrots and 3rd against Ninjas In Pyjamas. This got G2 in the Semifinals where they would meet team “need more dm”, a very strong hungarian team. First map was Bind and it ended 13-3 in favor of G2. Second was Ascent, and even though the Hungarian roster gave them more of a fight this time round, G2 still managed to take the win, 13-7.

Finals

After their Semifinal win, G2 went up against Fish123 which was arguably the strongest european team during the closed beta, as well as for a certain period after the game’s release. First map of the best of 3 series was Bind, which G2 went on to win 13-9. After Bind came Ascent and G2 displayed another dominant performance to be crowned champions of the WePlay Valorant invitational. 

Highlight play from G2, showcasing their strong B site hold on Ascent:

What’s next for G2?

G2 at the time of writing, still have only 4 players signed to the organization. During WePlay and a couple other events, David “davidp” Prins was their stand-in, and he showed that he has what it takes to compete against the best in Valorant. Will G2 sign Davidp? Or will they opt for someone else? We can only wait and see, however the G2 5th man announcement should be arriving sometime this week. So make sure you stay tuned to https://www.esportsguide.com/for all your latest esports news!

Complexity reveal their Valorant roster

Posted on by Nathan Bonello

Complexity have just announced that the next esport they will be entering is Valorant. The roster is made up of players which have a lot of raw talent and are hungry to win championships in Riot’s new tactical FPS. Here is their announcement:

Here are all the Valorant players & staff that Complexity has signed:

  • Players:
    • David “Xp3” Garrido
    • Riley “Ohai” Nguyen (APEX)
    • Mike “AGM” Abood
    • Corbin “C0M” Lee 
    • Cody “Frisco” Day (OW)
  • Staff:
    • Ryan “Meerko” Amato (Manager)
    • Sulaiyman “Sovereign” Muhammad (Manager)

How was the team picked up?

Most of the roster (Ohai, AGM, Frisco) were playing under a team named Frameslol whereas Xp3 was playing for team “Intensity” and C0M was still a free agent, trying to get into a solid roster. After a couple of solid placements from these individuals, it was a no doubt decision from Complexity to sign them and represent them in their future Valorant competitions.

What Esports experience do these players have?

Xp3, AGM and C0M come from a CS:GO background, they have been competing in CS for a long time and have recently made the switch to Valorant to showcase their potential in another FPS esport. Frisco had a short Overwatch background under Team Liquid, and Ohai played under the Las Vegas MiniGunners in Apex Legends.

Screenshot
Credit: Complexity

The roster is undoubtedly filled with raw talent and potential, and they might be the future stars that North America needs. Only time will tell as we see these individuals compete in more tournaments and events. Make sure you catch all the action by tuning in to https://www.esportsguide.com/ for all your latest esports news!

ex-Fish123 player Ardiis signs with G2 as their 4th Valorant member

Posted on by Nathan Bonello

G2 have announced that the latvian player, Ardis “ardiis” Svarenieks will be their 4th player of their Valorant squad. Here is their announcement:

This is how the roster is currently looking like:

  • Óscar “mixwell” Cañellas
  • Patryk “paTiTek” Fabrowski
  • Jacob “pyth” Mourujärvi
  • Ardis “ardiis” Svarenieks

Ardiis’ experience as a professional player

Before Valorant, Ardiis had been playing Counter-Strike professionally for 3 years under a number of organizations and teams, some being: Fierce Esports, Endpoint and London Esports. However in April he released a statement which entailed that he will be retiring from CS:GO to focus fully on Valorant.

What’s next for this roster?

Since the addition of Ardiis, they have participated in the Vitality European Open tournament which they managed to qualify for by having Davidp as their stand-in. Is he the missing piece to their puzzle? Some were hinting that Draken or ScreaM would also be suitable as a 5th for this very talented G2 roster. The final member should be revealed later this week along with possibly another organization entering the esport.

Stay tuned to https://www.esportsguide.com/ to keep yourself updated with all the latest esports news!

The Vitality European Open – All the Details

Posted on by Gabriel Sciberras

Meanwhile, as Riot Games slowly begins rolling out details for its first-party support for competitive VALORANT as exemplified by the Ignition Series, third-parties have wasted no time to organize their own little events including esports organizations as part of it. Amongst the multiple announcements, Team Vitality has organized the Vitality European Open as part of the Ignition Series. 

The following is a concise list of all the details:

  • Open Format – 128 slots 
  • Phase 1 – BO1 Open Qualifier leading to 8 BO3 Single Elimination Brackets 
  • Phase 2 – Two Round Robin Groups of 4 to find Top 4
  • Phase 3 – Finals – BO3 Double Elimination Bracket – BO5 Grand Final 
  • €15,000 prize pool for Top 8

Besides those format details, registration is currently open and everything will be streamed on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/vitality.

It’s all terribly exciting as we get to witness the initial growth of VALORANT as an esport. Through these smaller events, Riot Games can gain crucial knowledge as to how to organize larger events in the future. 

Stay tuned to https://www.esportsguide.com for everything on VALORANT. 



Riot Addresses request for a pick and ban system for agents, for deathmatch and more

Posted on by Nathan Bonello

In their recent “Ask Valorant”, the community has asked a variety of questions regarding the future of Valorant and some new added features that might be beneficial for a game such as Valorant. This was the first question that a user had for the Riot Games developers:

Q: Do you have any plans to change the aim punch? Like, each weapon getting a different amount of aim punch?

Trevor Romleski, Senior Game Designer for Riot Games has said the following: 

A: “Not at the moment, but I do think there’s an opportunity to lessen aim punch in extreme cases, for example, a long fire from a pistol or shotgun that is inflicting minimal damage with lots of fall off.”

Aim punch in Valorant right now seems like it’s in a good state and doesn’t need any adjustments, however the developers will adapt to any unexpected occurrences.

viper valorant uhdpaper
Credit: Riot Game

Q: Many of us are wondering, will there be a deathmatch mode?

Jared Berbach, Lead Game Modes Producer for Riot Games has said the following: 

A: Deathmatch is absolutely a mode that is coming to VALORANT in the future. We don’t have a timetable yet, but it’s something where we’re actively working on the underlying technology as well as designing, iterating, prototyping, and playtesting right now.

Deathmatch has been a requested feature since the release of the closed beta and it will be very exciting to see how Riot will go about when it eventually gets released.

Q: Are there any plans to make the VALORANT client a non-full screen application?

Steven Eldredge, Senior Producer for Riot Games has said the following: 

A: “There are no plans at the moment for menus to have their own display mode setting like the League Client where it launches an executable ‘game’ in full-screen from a news/store/friendlist client. This is mostly due to the fact that VALORANT is an all-in-one executable, whereas League’s is two separate ones. Players can currently put the game into windowed and windowed fullscreen which will also apply to their in-game experience.”

Due to Valorant being an all-in-one program, which is completely opposite to the league client, it will not be possible for Valorant to be a non-full screen application however there are options to set the resolution of the game to windowed or windowed fullscreen.

Q: Will there be a pick and ban system with Agents and maps?

Trevor Romleski, Senior Game Designer for Riot Games has said the following: 

Credits to Riot Gamesss
Credit: Riot Games

A: We’ve considered a draft phase for agents, but the current thinking is that we would not have bans. For some more reasoning around bans: first, we expect teams to have set plays and strategies that will require very specific agents. Banning an agent would invalidate that entire strategy, and we don’t want to discourage practice.

When a Pick and Ban phase is in place for a game such as Valorant it means that a players’ favourite and best agent will be removed from the match, which often leads to having no set pieces for the match as that agent was a core part of that strategy, and rightly so, Riot do not want that happening.

Q: Will it be possible to play in other regions? Example, playing on NA servers while being on EU?

Dave Heironymus, Technical Director of VALORANT has said the following: 

A: While we know that some friendships can be easily sustained across thousands of miles, a fast internet connection can’t. All games of VALORANT must be hosted on a single game server located in a single physical location, so even if we allow someone in Japan to queue up with someone in the UK (for example), one of them has to connect to a game server that’s very, very far away.

Riot Games are considering enabling the option if there is huge demand, however they want all matches to be fair, and when it comes to matches from different regions across great distances, it is not possible due to latency and the internet not keeping up.

There were a lot of important questions regarding Valorant’s future in this week’s “Ask Valorant” especially Deathmatch and the Pick and Ban system, which are directed towards the future of Valorant as an esport. If you would like to see the full list of questions yourself, click here. 

Riot Games Promising Six Agents Per Year for Valorant

Posted on by Gabriel Sciberras

Riot Games continues to push as hard as they can when it comes to the fresh new esports title of VALORANT. For an esport to survive though, there needs to be a lively community and one way of assuring this is by offering regular doses of fresh content. This is exactly what Riot Games plans to do through ‘Acts’ and ‘Episodes’. 

As announced by Anna Donlon through a video, each Episode will last roughly six months where an ‘Act’ will occupy a two-month gap. Since there are two Episodes planned each year, and an agent will be released for each Act, a total of six new agents look to be introduced to VALORANT yearly! 

Credits to Riot GAmeas
Credit: Riot Games

While this promise may be an exception to this year, Riot Games are still figuring out whether six is the right number as the developers continue to ask for feedback from the community. 

Such a steady rate of new content has incredible implications for competitive play, as the pool of agents will constantly grow. Should each agent be unique, it’s an opportunity for VALORANT to really stand out as an esports title.