Three agents played a crucial role throughout VCT LOCK//IN São Paulo, the first VALORANT tournament of the year featuring all 30 partnered teams. Duelist Jett was picked in all nine games played on Ascent, while duelist Raze was selected in all seven games played on Split, and controller Viper was played on all of the 12 Icebox matches, according to VLR.gg’s statistics.
Jett and Viper were also two of the five most-picked agents during VCT LOCK//IN with 60 percent and 40 percent pick rates, respectively, according to VLR.gg. Raze, on the other hand, was a way more situational pick. The duelist from Brazil was only picked in 29 percent of the VCT LOCK//IN matches mainly because players didn’t play Raze at all on Ascent and barely picked her on two other maps—Pearl (three percent) and Icebox (four percent).
VCT LOCK//IN allowed analysts and viewers at home to get a more accurate perspective on what the meta is nowadays. By looking at the agent pick rates, we can say that professional players think Jett is the best duelist available at the moment, while Viper is the best controller alongside Omen. Raze is the second-best duelist but is far away from being as strong as Jett.
Related: One VALORANT agent had a worryingly low pick rate at VCT LOCK//IN
The data we got from VCT LOCK//IN is relevant because all three regions—Americas, EMEA, and Pacific—attended the $500,000 event in Brazil. EMEA had two representatives in the form of Fnatic and Natus Vincere in the playoffs, while Americas and Pacific got one each: LOUD and DRX, respectively. Fnatic defeated LOUD 3-2 in the grand finals on Saturday, March 4, and became the first champion of the franchised era of VALORANT.
Of course, the meta will change over the course of the year due to all the balance changes the developers will make plus the three agents that will join the pool this year. Gekko, the first agent coming in 2023, was introduced during VCT//LOCK IN’s showmatch. He’s an initiator hailing from Los Angeles.
The next VCT tournament featuring the franchised teams will be the regional leagues. All of them will kick off at the end of March and finalize at the end of May. The four best teams in the EMEA League will qualify for VALORANT Masters Tokyo in June, while the Americas and Pacific regions will get three spots each.
