Featuring numerous heroic plays, astonishing strategies, and unconventional team compositions, 2023’s VCT Masters Tokyo has been a roller-coaster ride for viewers thus far. But, while VALORANT’s quirky meta was utilized to its fullest in the event, two of Protocol’s agents were completely left out of action—and rightly so.
Reyna and Yoru, VALORANT’s most niche duelists, failed to make the cut for any of the 12 teams at the year’s second international event. Both agents are currently sitting at zero percent pick rates at Masters Tokyo, according to vlr.gg.
Not that Reyna and Yoru were favorites before; they have always been on the list of most ignored agents in professional VALORANT. That being said, while both agents have been unpopular choices, Yoru has managed to grab a bit more attention than Reyna in VCT 2023.
In the VCT EMEA League, Yoru was a popular pick for Natus Vincere, primarily played by cNed on Fracture, Lotus, and Bind. Yoru also made a few appearances in the Pacific League, but he was completely absent in the Americas League.
Reyna was picked by Paper Rex a couple of times in the Pacific League, and the team’s superstar something, courtesy of his on-point mechanics, even managed to make the most out of her against DRX and Rex Regum Qeon. She was also picked by Talon Esports in one of their Pacific League series against DRX. That being said, she went unnoticed in the Americas and EMEA League.
The reason why these two agents are not used in professional play is apparent. Both Yoru and Reyna offer certain advantages, but they simply aren’t the best choices to make when you have access to incredibly potent duelists like Raze, Jett, and even Neon. Both Jett and Raze are currently among the top five agents in terms of pick rate at Masters Tokyo.
While Reyna continues to be one of the best ‘solo carry’ agents on VALORANT’s ranked, her self-centered abilities offer very little value to the team. Except for aggressive frags, there’s nothing a Reyna can bring to the table.
Yoru, on the other hand, has excellent duel-centric abilities, but the Japanese trickster mostly thrives in a double-duelist team composition. He requires a lot of team support and coordination. Teams simply prefer picking a more independent duelist like Raze and Jett, who can effectively take control of space and keep themselves safe in the process.
Despite being a great agent on maps like Bind and Lotus, Yoru hasn’t yet made it to Masters Tokyo. With two enticing best-of-five series left on the schedule, we may see him teleport his way into one of the ten Agent Select screens!
As for Reyna, Paper Rex may choose to play her in June 22’s lower finals against Evil Geniuses or possibly in the grand finals if they make it. EG and Fnatic are unlikely to pick the Mexican soul harvester, but the tournament has been full of surprises so far—so why not?
Besides Reyna and Yoru, Phoenix (duelist) and Chamber (sentinel) were also ignored for most of Masters Tokyo until both agents first appeared in the exciting lower-bracket series featuring NRG Esports against Paper Rex on June 21.
Related: New VALORANT agent name leaked as release date approaches
With only three teams remaining from the starting roster of 12, things are about to get excitingly intense at VCT Masters, and a spicy team composition with Yoru or Reyna could be the icing on the cake.
