In Valorant the meta gameplay is dominated by the heavy sniper rifle Operator, which can eliminate enemies with a single shot. Top streamer shroud is not pleased with this. Therefore, he has a few sensible ideas to break the meta and spice up ranked play.
What is the problem with the meta? Among the weapons in Valorant, the Operator has been the ultimate choice since its release. The heavy sniper rifle can kill even fully armored opponents with a single shot with almost every hit. Therefore, every team tries to get an “OP” as quickly as possible. Protection against the OP is only provided by so-called “flashes” and “smokes,” effects that either blind the opponent or create temporary visual barriers. But even that often doesn’t help, as top player and Twitch star shroud points out.
Shroud wants agents with better flashes and a more expensive Operator
This bothers shroud: According to the top streamer, it is especially difficult to use the flashes to blind the Operator shooters with agents like Phoenix and Breach. The flashes can be easily predicted and avoided with a quick sidestep. If a sniper has a good angle, it is hard to dislodge him.
This is what shroud would like to change: One solution would be to introduce a new agent specifically designed to counter sniper weapons. This agent should be able to throw his flashes and smokes around corners, similar to how Jett can currently with her smoke skill “Cloudburst”.
Additionally, shroud would like to raise the cost of the Operator. Even though it is not cheap at 4,500 credits in the game, even an inferior team can ultimately afford the weapon.
However, if it were to cost 5,500 credits, it would be harder to obtain and its loss would be difficult to recover for the team, causing many teams to try cheaper alternatives, reducing the prevalence of the OP.
Ranked Lists are Needed
This is what shroud says about ranked play: Another problem that shroud sees in Valorant relates to ranked play. Once players reach the highest rank “Radiant,” there is nothing left to do for top gamers like him.
As a result, many professionals create what is known as a “smurf account” and go hunting for noobs in the lower ranks. This, in turn, is not enjoyable for new players and is generally frowned upon in shooters.
Shroud’s solution would be a simple leaderboard in the top tier, showing clearly who is currently the best and what rank the rest of the top players are in. This way, they could compare themselves and have the ambition to work their way up and dethrone the current top player.
Shroud is not the only professional who has a problem with the Operator and its dominating meta gameplay. Top gamer TenZ has also presented ideas on how to nerf the heavy sniper rifle a bit. He has different ideas than shroud. It will be interesting to see whether and how Riot Games will ultimately tackle the Operator.
