In the competitive world of Valorant, the balance between agents plays a very significant role in maintaining the integrity of the matches. Any major or nerf to any agent can make or break the character’s usability at a High Elo level.
Recently, developers at Riot Games released a patch that made some controversial buffs, to say the least. Duelist-class agents like Reyna, Neon, and ISO got buffed, but Raze got nerfed. However, ISO’s buff has made him what players feared when he was introduced, a Tank.
The Buff That Changed Everything in Valorant
ISO was one of the most underused agents in the pool due to his underwhelming abilities and lack of team-play usability. But with the recent buffs in Patch 8.11, he has become one of the best duelist agents and the community has even nicknamed him ‘High Elo Terror’.
His buffs include a complete overhaul of his main ability, Double Tap (E), which used to grant a shield after killing an opponent (and shooting the bubble), but now it gives a shield at activation (after 1 sec). This shield can still be reset after ISO gets 2 kills. What this basically means is that after activating the Ability, ISO can tank the first enemy shot (without the need for 1 kill) without taking any damage.
This change not only makes him a perfect counter to Operator (a sniper rifle) but also makes him a tank. The community was really happy with developers when ISO was released, as Riot was able to keep the agent’s ability in control, but now with these changes, their initial fear has become a reality.
In the High Elo lobbies, there is a noticeable increase in ISO usage, players who were staying away from picking him now choose him frequently (if they are fast enough to select them). The whole community is very vocal about this situation and with Riot Games‘ previous record, they are most likely monitoring the situation and will make the required changes.
Major Community Backlash and Impact on Competitive Integrity
After the Patch 8.11 release, the community has been active in voicing their concerns over these buffs. Agents like Neon and ISO have received buffs that not only make them meta-changing but also have the potential to upset the delicate balance of Valorant‘s agent roster.
I'm going to level, I think Iso is probably hotfix territory. Can't think of a balance miss of this magnitude in a very long time. It takes all the anti-tactical attributes of untradeability mechanics and cranks them up to 100.
A lot of folks will remember the concern around a…
— Martin ''Anderzz'' Schelasin (@AnderzzTV) June 14, 2024
With ISO’s newfound resurgence to the top, there are concerns that it will ruin the gameplay diversity and most likely impact the strategic depth in high-level play. Many community members are sharing their ideas about the changes developers can make. Fnatic’s @AnderzzTV also shared his thoughts on X, he wants an immediate change and suggested many great ideas for the potential changes. He further explained the community’s concern:
A lot of folks will remember the concern around a “tank” agent when Iso was released and many praised the team for keeping it under control. This, by comparison, is exactly what people were worried about.
In the end, the ball is in Riot Games’ court, and the community must wait for any changes if they are even made. For now, players have to adapt to the new meta where ISO reigns supreme.
