From Kickoff to Champions: The defining meta shifts of VALORANT 2025

With the year coming to an end, it’s time to look back on the past VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 season and the compositions used throughout the stages. With newly released Agents and patches changing the meta over the year, teams went through multiple composition shifts on the biggest stages. Here is a deep dive into the meta shifts of 2025.

All stats were taken from THESPIKE’s Agents stats page.

Kickoff

The VCT season kicked off with the usual pillar Agents across all regions. Omen topped the leaderboards alongside fellow smoker Astra, with Sova also being a popular pick. Three out of four regions preferred Raze over any other Duelist in their compositions.

Among the Sentinels, teams opted for more classic picks like Cypher and Killjoy, even though the newest Sentinel, Vyse, was released at the end of the 2024 season.

Tejo release

Following Kickoff, one Agent completely warped the meta: the newly released Tejo. At VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 - Masters Bangkok 2025, Tejo dominated the event. He became the most-picked Agent, edging out longtime staples like Omen with a massive 45.19% pick rate across 16 matches.

His kit proved incredibly versatile. The information-heavy Stealth Drone and Guided Salvo for space denial gave Tejo unmatched flexibility, making him a go-to pick in virtually every situation. His abilities were also easy to integrate into top-tier team compositions. That flexibility quickly became a balance issue, as it felt like Tejo was required to win.

The domination continued in Stage 1, where Tejo was the number one pick in three out of four regions, with only EMEA seeing Omen maintain a higher pick rate. After Bangkok, Riot Games recognized the imbalance and issued a nerf to Tejo in Patch 10.09 ahead of VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 - Masters Toronto 2025.

Guided Salvo took the biggest hit, becoming more expensive and limited by charges instead of a cooldown. Other abilities also saw cost increases, and his ultimate, Armageddon, was increased to nine ult points from eight.

The patch dramatically changed the playing field. Tejo’s pick rate nearly bottomed out at Masters Toronto, and he remained largely absent for the rest of the 2025 season. Only a handful of players, such as Trent "trent" Cairns on G2 Esports, continued to pick Tejo over other Initiators.

Stage 2

During Stage 2, compositions largely returned to basics with a few tweaks. Comparing Kickoff and Stage 2, before and after Tejo’s dominance, Omen once again topped the leaderboards alongside Sova.

However, Raze was no longer the preferred Duelist. Instead, Neon and Yoru stole the spotlight. The Pacific region often opted into double-Duelist compositions featuring both Neon and Yoru. Neon became a staple for fast entry plays, while Yoru’s versatile kit enabled quick rotations and strong information gathering through his ultimate.

Astra, who was a favored Agent during Kickoff, was replaced by Viper in Stage 2. Viper frequently served as Omen’s sidekick in double-controller comps. Vyse also saw increased play in Stage 2, particularly during VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 - Americas Stage 2, where she appeared in the most-picked composition of the stage.

In other regions, Cypher and Killjoy held down the fort as the preferred Sentinel picks.

Champions Paris

The top five Agents at VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 - Valorant Champions were Omen, Sova, Yoru, Fade, and Viper. When it mattered most, teams across all regions leaned on Agents they trusted. Fade remained the second-most favored Initiator throughout Stage 2, while the Omen–Viper combo continued to dominate. With Abyss returning to the map pool, Cypher overshadowed Vyse with a higher pick rate. However, the eventual champions, NRG, stuck with their Sentinel player Logan "skuba" Jenkins on Vyse on Abyss.

Waylay also cracked the top ten most-played Agents at Champions. Although she was released in March, she didn’t see major stage presence until Champions. Her highest pick rate came on Corrode, where her Refract enabled aggressive site takes and effective information gathering.

Patch 11.08

In October, just days after the conclusion of the 2025 VCT season, Riot announced their biggest patch of the year: Patch 11.08. The update significantly altered Agent balance, changing how impactful abilities are in gameplay.

Longer cooldowns, reduced damage, and shorter stun durations across many Agents shifted the meta in ways that won’t fully be understood until next season. More details on Patch 11.08 can be found in our previous patch article.

Summary

The 2025 season went through several meta shifts across its stages, largely driven by Tejo’s release in the spring. The Initiator became the most-picked Agent both regionally and internationally, creating a clear imbalance in the Agent pool. In an effort to correct this, Riot heavily nerfed Tejo, to the point where most teams now consider him unviable.

After Stage 1 and Masters Toronto, compositions largely returned to form. Omen finished 2025 as the most-picked Agent across the competitive scene, with no other Controller matching his impact. Alongside Viper, he remained relevant from start to finish. Sova and Fade were also the two most consistently picked Initiators throughout the year.

Yoru was the Duelist with the most growth in pick rate over the season. Neon and Raze remained popular options but never reached the same level of dominance. Vyse also grew in popularity, and by Stage 2 and Champions Paris, she and Cypher emerged as the preferred Sentinel choices.

However, following Champions Paris, Riot released Patch 11.08, which is set to significantly reshape the battlefield. Slower cooldowns and reduced ability impact may force teams to rethink long-standing compositions and become more selective with ability usage.

2026 is shaping up to look very different with new opportunities for teams in the Challenger Leagues to square up against franchised VCT teams. Suffice it to say, VALORANT fans are looking at an exciting 2026 VCT season.

For all things VCT-related, make sure to stay tuned to THESPIKE.GG as we continue to update you with the freshest game and esports news.

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