A new agent in VALORANT is fun, but the real joy comes from finding the perfect agents to pair with them. The newest agent for coaches and tacticians to play around with is Gekko, the LA-based initiator who uses his collection of creatures as his abilities.
There are plenty of interesting abilities in Gekko’s VALORANT kit too: Mosh Pit expands to a wide radius after landing on the ground, then explodes after a short delay. Dizzy charges at enemies and blinds any in its line of sight. Wingman can be sent forward to concuss the first enemy he sees, or even plant or defuse the spike with his alt-fire.
Finally, Thrash (Gekko’s ultimate) is steered at opponents and detains them (like a Killjoy Lockdown) for a short time.
Gekko excels at creating space for himself and his teammates, deterring enemy aggression during opposing retakes or executes, and flushing opponents out of angles.
His biggest comparison with another agent is arguably Breach, as they both can use blinds, stuns, and damage to take map control, except while Rolling Thunder dazes opponents, Gekko’s Thrash ultimate detains them.
So how do you get the most efficient usage out of Gekko? Well while agent comps are pretty significantly map dependent, here are some must-pick agents for any composition running with Gekko.
Astra (or another smoker like Brimstone or Omen)
Of course, most compositions on any map need a smoker, but Gekko being able to pick up the globule for Dizzy, Wingman, and Thrash and use the ability again after a very short cooldown means that smoke cover is so vital. Being able to cover Gekko while he effectively gets to recharge his abilities for free means that a team can maximize his space-clearing prowess.
The reason Astra is recommended is simply to chain her Gravity Well star with Gekko’s Mosh Pit.
Viper
Speaking of Gekko’s Mosh Pit, it looks an awful lot like Viper’s Snakebite, which to the uninitiated can cause some confusion. But Viper’s presence next to Gekko is a huge boon even without the similarly colored abilities, given how well the two could combine on-site executes and post-plants. Having two controllers with this comp also means more cover for Wingman to plant on behalf of Gekko.
Cypher
The information Cypher can acquire with his abilities fits alongside Gekko the nicest. Given how much info Cypher can pick up with his Trapwires and Spy Dart, that information can then be used by Gekko to punish locked-on opponents with blinds, damage, stuns, or detains.
Jett or Raze
Having an agent that can play the aggressive entry means Gekko doesn’t have to be on the forefront, which is what you want for an agent with so much offensive utility. Gekko landing blinds and stuns means that Raze or Jett can rush in and punish those opponents while they’re affected.
