Just when you thought Valorant’s duelist meta couldn’t get any more chaotic, Riot Games drops a bombshell that has pros “sweating profusely” in disbelief. The competitive scene’s reaction to their latest teaser video looks like a mixture of Christmas morning excitement and the dawning horror of realizing what this means for their carefully practiced strategies.
With Tejo barely settled into the roster after his January debut, players were expecting a breather before the next agent reveal. Instead, Riot has been quietly preparing to unleash what might be the most disruptive duelist yet—one that has pro players making some truly wild comparisons.
The reactions from the Masters Bangkok participants who got an early peek at Agent 28 suggest we’re not just getting another entry fragger—we’re potentially witnessing the birth of a meta-destroying monster. And if history has taught us anything, it’s that when pros start throwing around terms like “broken” before an agent even drops, they’re usually onto something.
When pros call an agent “broken” before release, believe them
Riot’s strategy of revealing new agents to pros before the public always generates hype, but the reactions to Valorant‘s upcoming Agent 28 are on another level entirely. The recently released “Pros React to the Newest Duelist” video feels less like a teaser and more like a warning:
a sneak peak at the newest Duelist
your first look of the new Agent is during the Showmatch at the #VALORANTMasters Bangkok Grand Finals pic.twitter.com/EBYoutzvrR
— VALORANT (@VALORANT) February 24, 2025
The comparisons being thrown around should raise eyebrows for anyone who’s spent time grinding ranked. DRX’s Hyunmin didn’t mince words when he described the agent as “like Jett, Yoru, and Reyna combined,” with his teammate Beyn adding it’s “like a fruit salad” of abilities.
Let that sink in—an agent combining the mobility of Jett, the trickery of Yoru, and the self-sufficiency of Reyna. If that doesn’t sound like power creep incarnate, we don’t know what does.
Sentinels’ Zekken seemed almost gleeful about the chaos to come: “I think it’s going to be really annoying to play against—which is why they’re going to be so fun for me to play.” When even the pros are admitting an agent will be frustrating to face, you know we’re in for a wild ride.
Perhaps most telling was Vitality’s Sayf, who offered this ominous prediction:
Good luck to the people holding sites. The people with the utility and the guy holding the smokes. It doesn’t matter anymore, guys. The game’s over.
If the pattern holds true from previous releases like Tejo and Vyse, we’re likely looking at another agent that will dominate the meta before inevitably receiving the nerf hammer. The question isn’t if Agent 28 will be overpowered—it’s for how long.
The crystal-clear signs of Valorant‘s approaching meta shift
While we don’t have the full ability kit yet, the breadcrumbs Riot Games has been dropping paint an interesting picture of what’s to come when Agent 28 is officially revealed on March 2nd during the Masters Bangkok Grand Finals.
The agent appears to have crystal-themed abilities, with teasers showing prismatic shards and colorful light effects. The “Prismatic Pathways” player card in the current battle pass is likely a deliberate hint at the agent’s movement mechanics.
And from what we can gather, this female duelist (as hinted by Tejo’s new voice line about making “an introduction”) will feature some form of disruptive movement ability—possibly a dash that transforms the user into a sphere of light while blinding opponents in her path.
This fits perfectly with the pros’ reactions about her being “fully disruptive” and the comments about Sentinels being in trouble. If she can bypass traditional defensive setups with ease, we might see a fundamental shift in how teams approach site holds.
Wild guess: blink/teleport instead of dash so won’t trigger traps, damage bases grenade that can be used to destroy traps and smokes like CS2? Or something to do with wall
— celine (@celine5412430) February 24, 2025
The timing is particularly interesting with the recent Patch 10.03 changes to slow effects. The update made all slows consistently affect dashes across all agents—perhaps a preemptive balance adjustment for Agent 28’s “absolutely broken, please nerf”-level mobility?
What’s clear is that Riot is deliberately pushing the boundaries with each new agent. Whether this is healthy for the game’s competitive integrity or just a way to keep things fresh is debatable, but one thing’s certain—the duelist meta we know today won’t be the same after Sunday.
Are you excited for Agent 28’s reveal, or concerned about another potentially overpowered agent joining the roster? Share your predictions in the comments below!
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