Meta Report #10: Brimstone's burial?

Time for another Meta Report! This week is Europe's turn; even though in this report we don't have a huge number of played maps (a total of 37 played maps for this report), we had top level VALORANT. The data comes from the Allied Esports Odyssey. The format of the tournament consisted of a group with six teams. The teams played two maps against each other and the best four teams went to the playoff stage which was played Bo1 with a loser bracket, except for the grand final which was Bo3. This leaves us with a limited perspective, as there are only 6 teams, but at the same time it helps us to understand how they work.

Analyzing the overall pick rate of agents we find:

TIER 1

(MORE THAN 85% PICK RATE)

The essential agents, present in virtually all compositions.

Cypher (100%) maintained a perfect pick rate throughout the tournament, the surprise was Omen (95%) who climbed to Tier 1 and continues to grow stronger week by week.

TIER 2

(85% TO 50% PICK RATE)

Powerful agents, they provide useful tools and are difficult to replace, usually the flex slots.

Four agents shaped Tier 2 this week, which gave form to most of the compositions. Sova (77%) found his place in the meta, the reason why he does not manage to reach the Tier 1 is Split, where his pick rate decreases considerably. Sage (69%) is holding out on Tier 2, for now, but teams are testing compositions without her. Jett (58%) consolidates her position in the meta and while Cypher and the Operator are still in the meta, Jett seems to be a suitable tool to control both of them. Raze (54%) remains an option for many European teams, and remains a viable option on several maps.

TIER 3

(50% TO 15% PICK RATE)

Good agents, with potential in the competitive game, viable depending on the map or players who prefer them.

Breach (18%) and Reyna (18%) were particular preferences of certain teams and that kept them out of Tier 4. Breach was used mainly by FunPlus Phoenix, while Reyna by Team Liquid.

TIER 4

(LESS THAN 15% PICK RATE)

Agents that need some adjustment to enter the meta or are viable in very specific situations.

Phoenix (8%) does not seem to be working in Europe, a region that is dropping it. Brimstone (4%) is no surprise, double Smoker proved not to be an efficient strategy and if Omen is so high, Brimstone is doomed to be low. Finally Viper (0%) was not used by anyone during this tournament.

Analyzing in detail the pick rate per map we find:

**Total maps played 37: **

• Ascent: 12 (32%)
• Bind: 8 (23%)
• **Haven: 12 (32%) **
• Split: 5 (13%)

There's not much to say about Cypher and Omen. Cypher is present in every map (nerf incoming?), while Omen gradually occupied all the maps that used to be controlled by Brimstone in this edition. Sova is extremely strong in Ascent and Bind, and his pick rate reflects it, on Haven they replaced him in some compositions but on Split he is a marginal option, falling to 20% of pick rate. With Sage the opposite happens, on Split she had 100% of pick rate, Haven was her second strongest map, but when we look at Bind and Ascent, her pick rate falls remarkably, especially on Bind. Among the duelists, Jett and Raze are the most prevalent choices: while Jett maintains a stable pick rate on the different maps, Raze shines on Split and Bind (the two least played maps in this tournament). Breach keeps a low but stable pick rate on different maps, in this case it's because Breach is the choice of FunPlus Phoenix. Reyna was used mainly on Haven and Split by Team Liquid.

Analyzing the compositions by map:

• Cypher, Jett, Omen, Sage, Sova: 41% pick rate, 52,4% round win rate.
• Cypher, Jett, Omen, Sova, Phoenix: 21% pick rate, 53,4% round win rate.
• Cypher, Omen, Raze, Sage, Sova: 17% pick rate, 58,2% round win rate.

Cypher, Jett, Omen, Sage, and Sova was used mainly by the champion, G2 Esports, and also BBL Esports and GIANTX, who were not as successful as G2 Esports using this composition. Cypher, Jett, Omen, Sova, and Phoenix was used by Ninjas in Pyjamas and BBL Esports - while NiP obtained a 50.6% win rate, BBL (who used it only once) reached 60%. Cypher, Omen, Raze, Sage, and Sova: FunPlus Phoenix was the team that used this composition the most and obtained a 62.2% win rate. When Team Liquid tried to use it, they achieved only a 45.8% win rate.

• Cypher, Jett, Omen, Raze, Sova: 31% pick rate, 50,9% round win rate.
• Cypher, Jett, Omen, Sage, Sova: 19% pick rate, 46,6% round win rate.
• Breach, Cypher, Omen, Raze, Sova: 19% pick rate, 53,4% round win rate.

Cypher, Jett, Omen, Raze, Sova: this was only used by Ninjas in Pyjamas, and they couldn't get a big advantage with this composition. Ninjas in Pyjamas is one of the teams in Europe looking for compositions that do not rely on Sage. Cypher, Jett, Omen, Sage, Sova: Used by two teams, G2 Esports and BBL Esports. G2 Esports with a 60.5% win rate, while BBL Esports only with 18.8%. Breach, Cypher, Omen, Raze, Sova: Composition used only by FunPlus Phoenix, with 53.4% win rate. This is another team that tries to play around Sage, although instead of playing with a second duelist, they choose to use Breach.

• Cypher, Jett, Omen, Sage, Sova: 33% pick rate, 44,5% round win rate.
• Cypher, Omen, Raze, Reyna, Sage: 17% pick rate, 62,3% round win rate.
• Cypher, Omen, Raze, Sage, Sova: 8% pick rate, 58% round win rate.

Cypher, Jett, Omen, Sage, and Sova was used by three teams, BBL Esports, GIANTX and G2 Esports. None of the three teams could achieve a win rate higher than 50%. The composition used by only Team Liquid was Cypher, Omen, Raze, Reyna, and Sage. The results are very different - with a 62.3% win rate, it is one of the compositions with better overall results. Cypher, Omen, Raze, Sage, and Sova obtained good results and was used by G2 Esports and Team Liquid.

• Cypher, Omen, Raze, Reyna, Sage: 30% pick rate, 67,4% round win rate.
• Cypher, Jett, Omen, Raze, Sage: 30% pick rate, 49,1% round win rate.
• Breach, Cypher, Omen, Raze, Sage: 20% pick rate, 50% round win rate.

Cypher, Omen, Raze and Sage are the core of Split, a map that is unwilling to let go of Sage. Sova was not present in any of the top 3 compositions. The teams opted for two types of compositions that operate in different ways. The first two compositions use Jett or Reyna as an aggressive tool, while the third composition uses Breach. Breach was the choice of FunPlus Phoenix which, as we saw, used Breach whenever possible.

Use by report:

Cypher got his best pick rate since the game has started. Sage made up for some lost ground in the previous report, but keep in mind that the previous report is only from North America, as this one is only from Europe. Omen is consolidating after Cypher, we will have to see if the effect is similar in North America. Sova is up from the previous report, but keep in mind that very little Split was played in this tournament, increasing Sova's pick rate. Jett remains at similar levels, as does Breach. Raze is slightly more used in Europe than in North America. Phoenix, despite being a recurring option in North America, does not find his place in Europe. Reyna's pick rate was directly proportional to the use of Team Liquid. Viper and Brimstone are in the bottom. Viper has never gotten up from the bottom, while Brimstone is being totally oppressed by Omen.

What's next?

We haven't seen Killjoy in action yet, we don't really know how she will impact on the meta. We know that no one is assured of his place, Sage seemed to be an essential element for all the compositions and the teams are slowly leaving her aside. Will Cypher suffer a similar fate when Killjoy enters the meta? Reyna and Breach are other interesting agents, some teams are looking at where they can implement it; Team Liquid showed that Reyna can be exploited a lot and FunPlus Phoenix did something similar with Breach.