The VALORANT fandom focuses a lot on a couple of agents, often missing out on the meta’s biggest imbalances. If you’ve only been keeping tabs on Jett and Chamber’s popularity, I’d like to shift your attention to an agent who, by design, is perfect and enjoys the highest pick rate in their class across eight out of nine ranks.
According to Blitz.gg’s numbers for Episode Seven, Act Two, Skye has the highest pick rate among initiators across all ranks and tiers, except Radiant. But the fact that she falls short of Sova in the premier rank is quite interesting.
The Australian animal whisperer boasts the perfect initiating kit for every VALORANT map currently in competitive rotation. She’s built to offer information in the most versatile way possible. And when she’s not doing that, she can even heal her teammates for the added edge.
Here’s why I think she’s so flexible. Her flashes don’t only provide information but also let players create more complicated, overpowered strats off them. Pop flashes are incredibly powerful, and that Skye can bend her birds allows her to pop flash in unpredictable ways.
Her Tasmanian Tiger (Trailblazer) is the game’s best scouting ability, which can concuss multiple enemies in an area and even kill an enemy left with low HP. Lastly, her Seekers (ultimate) may seem slightly underwhelming, but it’s an excellent information tool that helps teams decide on a foolproof execution plan.
Skye may be unable to mark enemies like Sova and Fade do, but she can bring much more value to an aggressive, fast-paced team than any other initiator. It’s safe to say that, like Jett and Chamber in their respective classes, Skye has the most powerful kit among the initiators of VALORANT.
To chip her popularity in the esports and ranked VALORANT meta, Riot Games hit Skye with the nerf hammer in Patch 7.04, where she endured changes to her Guiding Light and Trailblazer. That said, most players would agree that the nerfs did nothing significant.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Riot decides to hit Skye with more nerfs in the future, but such changes must be carefully implemented. She is in a similar situation as Jett and pre-nerf Chamber, where the devs can’t exactly balance her without shaking up her entire design. The last thing we need for Skye or any other VALORANT agent is a fate like Chamber’s.
While her versatility is a bit alarming and may harm the meta, I’d much rather have Riot take Skye as an example and add Sova and Breach buffs than nerfing her independently. Her design is special and creative in a fun way, and we don’t want that to go away at any cost.
