As a team shooter game, VALORANT is not only about precise gunplay but also timing, coordination, and communication. Even before the rounds begin, each team needs to decide on a good set of five agents who work well together based on their pool of abilities.
There are cases, however, where using abilities can actually be a hindrance to the team if the player is reckless or not coordinating thoroughly with everyone else. This is common with flash abilities, where agents like Phoenix or Skye might accidentally blind their team or themselves due to a lack of proper practice or communication.
A recent clip from Reddit user warkod took a Phoenix blinding mishap to the next level. In the clip, the attacking Sova, Jett, and KAY/O made their way to A Main on Ascent. Sova made noise by capturing the Orb, alerting the defending Phoenix and Reyna on A Site. Reyna threw out her Leer just before Phoenix threw a Curveball flash. Confident that the attacking team was blinded, Phoenix swung out only to die instantly to a clean headshot from Sova.
Phoenix failed to realize Reyna’s Leer actually protected Sova and his teammates from seeing the Curveball in the first place. Since Reyna’s Leer makes enemies nearsighted until they shoot the eye, Sova’s team couldn’t see far enough to be also blinded by Phoenix’s flash. After the eye was destroyed, Sova was able to pick up an easy kill on Phoenix.
While it’s unfortunate this blinding combo didn’t work out for Phoenix and Reyna, the outcome of this fight could have been very different had Phoenix thrown his flash a little later. If the timing were right, the attacking team could have been blinded by the Curveball after they destroyed Reyna’s Leer.
