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Valorant (Source - Riot Games)
Valorant patch 8.08 brought Nerfs to Viper and Cypher, while the other agents were left untouched apart from some general bug fixes. Let’s now check out how much the Nerfs affected the two beloved agents and what the situation is with other agents.
Top agent picks after patch 8.08 as per meta src for Valorant (May 9, 2024)
1. Jett (11.54%) - The poster child of Valorant, Jett has been one of the most popular, if not the most popular Duelists in Valorant. Despite multiple nerfs, all of her abilities make her one of the most versatile agents for a player to want to get in there and take down enemies really fast.
2. Reyna (10.54%) - Another popular Duelist who can heal, blind and easily get to safety after getting a kill, Reyna is another popular pick and has remained in the top three for the majority of the updates.
3. Clove (10.13%) - The third spot is currently stolen by the newest controller agent Clove, who excels in providing cover to teammates even after death. Their other abilities include self-heal and temporary self-revive, which can turn permanent after a kill. All of these made Clove one of the most useful agents.
What happened to Cypher and Viper post-patch?
Both Cypher and Viper were hit with nerfs and while Cypher still saw some wiggle room, Viper saw some huge changes including a limit to ability charges and more poison requirements for abilities.
Cypher saw his pick rate drop slightly from 7.06% in patch 8.07 to 6.81% after the 8.08 update. His Trapwire ability saw a slight cooldown increase while his camera now gives audible sound to enemies, which isn’t a big deal considering you can still hide and see enemies.
Viper on the other hand saw her pick rate drop from 4.04% in patch 8.07 to 2.52% in patch 8.08 as of now. Her Toxic Screen and Poison Cloud saw duration reduction and increased fuel requirement, whole Snake Bite ability saw a charge decrease from 2 to 1. All of this seems to be a no-go for Viper players especially when Clove is available.