Though the official franchised VCT regular season is yet to start in each respective region, we have already seen a glimpse of VALORANT’s upcoming professional meta through both the VCT LOCK//IN tournament and the non-franchised Challengers circuit.
The most notable shift so far in the meta is the absence of a certain gold-firearm-wielding French agent who dominated nearly every VALORANT server in 2022.
Chamber’s absence so far this year speaks volumes about not only his strength individually as an agent but also hints at the game’s playstyle going in a new direction as a whole. With fewer Tour de Forces also comes fewer Operators, long-range engagements, and holding angles.
But how much less is Chamber actually appearing in professional games this season? Though we don’t yet have the regional VCT stats, since the leagues haven’t started yet, we can look at statistics from the VCT LOCK//IN tournament as well as some of the regional Challengers leagues. Though Challengers is un-franchised, many of the players in these leagues have experience playing on the VCT stage before, some even internationally.
First, to understand Chamber’s reduced stats, it’s important to understand how dominant the agent once was.
At the 2022 VCT Champions tournament in Istanbul, Chamber was played more than any other agent. Chosen over 66 percent of the time, Chamber was picked across every map and slotted into multiple compositions.
In contrast, at VCT LOCK//IN 2023 in São Paulo, Chamber only had a 2.53 percent pick rate. This massive drop-off was likely largely due to massive nerfs the agent has received since last fall that have completely tuned down the value of his kit. There are just other agents that can be more effective than Chamber now.
And this drop-off isn’t just happening in professional play, either. Statistics show that players of all ranks across VALORANT servers are also not locking in Chamber anymore. Yet, somehow he still has a high win rate when he is picked in ranked.
Professionals who have picked Chamber this year haven’t quite had the same impact.
If you’re a Chamber main, things seem to be getting even worse. The most recent high-profile tournament in North America, the VCT Challengers North America circuit, had an even more abysmal Chamber statistic during the first split.
Among tier-two North American teams, Chamber only has a 1.39 percent pick rate in Challengers. He is tied as the lowest-picked agent in that tournament alongside Yoru, a character that has always struggled to find a place in the meta.
As the 2023 VCT meta continues to evolve, Chamber might just disappear completely, having fallen from such great heights.
