There may be good news for Cypher and Phoenix mains.
Valorant’s developers confirmed that Cypher and Phoenix buffs and changes are on the way in a recent Reddit AMA, which should hopefully help both agents feel more viable in the game’s meta.
Both agents have not received much love in recent months. They have fallen out of favor on both the ranked ladder and pro play, with the lowest pick rates of all the agents in their class.
Cypher had a measly 13 percent pick rate at VCT Stage 1 Masters Reykjavik 2022, the lowest out of all the sentinel agents. Phoenix is in an even worse spot – the British duelist was not played at all in Iceland, and he was picked less than 9 percent of the time in the last 30 days of ranked play.
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Cypher and Phoenix buffs are on the way
The Moroccan sentinel and flame-throwing duelist have seen their utility outclassed by other agents in their respective roles.
Killjoy and Chamber have come to be far more effective at watching flanks or locking down sites, while Phoenix lacks any unique utility that would help him stand out from other duelists.
His Curveball flashes are one of the worst in the game with their incredibly predictable trajectory, while his Blaze wall and Hot Hands molly are easily replaced by similar utility from multiple other duelist and controller agents.
“Upfront, yes we are working on Phoenix, but it is too early for us to talk about details of what it may entail. Right now we want to take the time to explore everything from number tweaks to something more,” said John Goscicki, Character Producer on Valorant.
“Unfortunately, we do not have a solid ETA on that, and we want to take the time to find the right long-term place for Phoenix.”
Cypher is in a similar situation, said Jay Watford, Agent Designer on Valorant. The team isn’t prepared to share details or a timeline for the changes, but it is already in the process of figuring out how to rework the masked spy.
You can read the entire Reddit AMA here.
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