Opinion: Is the current Operator meta ruining competitive games?

In the world of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, AWP players are considered an invaluable asset to their team. However, it comes with its cons to the person handling the gun, as it punishes its owner if he doesn’t get value out of it due to its highly expensive price. VALORANT players have been complaining about the game’s meta being heavily influenced by the Operator for the past few weeks, and Riot Games have already taken notice of their feedback.

During T1 x NSG Showdown, 100 Thieves VALORANT team captain Spencer "Hiko" Martin expressed the difficulty of countering teams on defensive rounds with Operators. Adil "ScreaM" Benrlitom echoed his concerns, and considering this is coming from one of the best CS:GO players in his time, it will continue to plague the competitive scene if it persists.

What makes the Operator so powerful in its current state is how deadly it is in the hands of the right person, with very little cons of using it outside of its expensive price tag. This goes back to map design and the lack of any movement speed punishment if you miss your shot. It especially brings us to Hiko’s statement, as it is not uncommon to find VALORANT teams even taking two or three Operators, if their economy allows, to hold angles. There are so many locations on VALORANT’s maps where attacking players don’t stand a chance against an already scoped Operator.

From a defensive point of view, if you are holding an angle, you have a considerable advantage over your opponent as even if you miss, you can easily exit their line of sight with immediate normal speed. This brings us to VALORANT’s map design, as most maps have a lot of corridors and straight line shots, which give Operator players almost uncontested vision of their opponents. The simplest example is the long pathway to Haven’s C site, as players perfectly line up for you to take them down with almost nothing in their hands to challenge an Operator defending the location.

In CS:GO, AWP players are punished with slowed movement speed so it is easier to pick them off and there is much more utility to block their vision. However, in VALORANT, the number of flashes and smokes to counter Operator players are limited and based on the characters present in your composition. These can all be used to deny line of sights and have a more balanced gun fight up close when using regular weapons.

VALORANT Lead Character Designer, Ryan “Morello” Scott, already acknowledged the professional scene and competitive community’s concerns regarding the Operator meta. However, he clarified Riot Games’ approach to the topic is to continuously monitor the situation, and since VALORANT is still so young, everything in its competitive play is still evolving.

Do you believe Operators are currently too strong in the VALORANT competitive scene? What changes would you like to see introduced to it? Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below!