Astra has finally taken center stage after the VALORANT Patch 9.05 update that went live this week, with the agent getting some much needed buffs that Controller mains are now saying will bring back her original glory days all over again.
Astra’s pick rate in VALORANT took a nosedive after brutal nerfs removed one of her stars and increased her cooldowns in Patch 4.04 in 2022. Riot had to nerf the agent at the time because she’d become a must-pick in ranked and professional matches and these nerfs allowed other controllers like Omen and Viper to enter the limelight. But, with the addition of Clove, things quickly changed; players had the opportunity to support their team with their smokes while having the equally good abilities to make aggressive plays. With Astra’s fifth star returning, players are now hopeful the agent can compete with Clove and Omen, who are dominating the metagame.
“ASTRA IS SOOOO BACK LETS GET IT,” one player wrote in a Sept. 10 thread celebrating Astra’s return. Many VALORANT players agreed you’re going to need to instalock Astra to play her now as teammates will likely do the same off the back of the incredible buffs. The fifth star allows her to deploy her smokes and clear close angles early in the round with the other abilities while keeping a star or two available for the late round situations.
Despite the devs keeping her cooldowns intact, many are thrilled to experience a glimpse of pre-nerfs Astra—especially players who started after the notorious changes. The designated controller and captain of Fnatic’s VALORANT roster, Boaster, is also bubbling with joy; he had quite a successful run with Astra before she was nerfed into the ground. Additionally, Astra shines during coordinated gameplay and creates more room for unique strategies, especially with the fakes (recalling the stars), so her return to meta would definitely help IGLs.
Omen and Clove can also drop five smokes (rechargeable) every round while being easy to play. Unlike these two VALORANT agents though, Astra’s a lot more complex. She can stun, pull (displacing everyone in its area of effect), and smoke using her stars. This lets Astra control any part of the map from any position. E.g., if your team’s rushing B site on Ascent, you can smoke the defenders’ spawn, market, stun the chokepoint, and deploy a pull on the stairs to give your team free passage to the site in question. Before Patch 9.05, you wouldn’t have any stars left to use your abilities in such a situation, but now you will have an extra star to slow down the enemy retake.
Whether Astra’s tweaks are enough to boost her win rate remains to be seen, though there’s clearly going to be a gold rush to play her—especially in the VALORANT pro scene.
