The information in this post has been updated for 2024.
VALORANT patch 5.12 brought substantial reductions to Chamber’s entire ability set, causing a sharp decrease in his selection as a sniper sentinel in professional play. This comes after a successful 2022 VCT season where Chamber was a staple in nearly every top-tier composition.
As the 2024 VCT season has yet to commence, the Challenger leagues worldwide have already begun, and the once highly-utilized initiator from the VCT Masters Copenhagen and Champions tournaments has experienced a drop in usage across the different leagues.
Fade was chosen in over half of the games in both international events and multiple Last Chance Qualifiers by the end of 2022. Her abilities were less popular in Breeze, however, she was a frequent choice across all maps in the pool, excluding Breeze where her abilities proved to be less effective on the larger sites.
However, this situation has altered at the beginning of the 2024 season. According to data from VLR.gg, Fade’s pick rate has declined in various Challenger Leagues. In regions such as North America, Japan, and Europe, her overall pick rate is barely reaching 25 percent, and in Brazil, it has dropped to 15 percent. On maps such as Haven and Ascent, where she previously had a pick rate above 60 percent, she has become a less frequent and specific choice, and Sova has regained his position as the preferred initiator.
There is a reasonable cause for this, linked to the substantial reductions to Chamber and recent enhancements to Killjoy. With Chamber being weakened, many teams have returned to using Jett as their primary Operator, and with teams not frequently playing both Raze and Jett, there is less incentive to use Fade without Raze’s Paint Shell grenades to complement Fade’s Seize tether. Additionally, Fade’s Prowlers were an efficient method for chasing Chamber out of his aggressive positions.
Moreover, the Chamber nerfs have resulted in more teams running Killjoy as their primary sentinel. In the 5.12 update, Killjoy received a health boost to her utilities, including her Lockdown ultimate. With healthier tools and more teams using Killjoy, Sova is needed more to use his Shock Darts and Hunter’s Fury to counter it.
This could change soon as pro players adapt to the new map pool, with Bind and Breeze being removed and Split and Lotus being added. Sova was a unpopular choice on Split before the map was removed, and that is unlikely to change, and Fade may be viewed as more viable on both Split and Lotus. Nonetheless, while she is not as weak as Chamber, the impact of Chamber’s nerfs has significantly reduced the demand for Fade.
