How will Valorant's meta shift with Deadlock's release?

Deadlock is the latest Agent to be released in Valorant. The Norwegian Sentinel arrived in the game's live servers with Patch 7.0. Her ability kit was met with mixed reactions. Some players called her too strong and broken, while others insisted that she was extremely weak as a Sentinel and needed buffs to be viable in the meta.

By nature, Deadlock is a Sentinel designed to shut down teams reliant on fast site executes and punish uncoordinated squads in the retake scenario. This begs the question of her influence in the Valorant meta. While it is hard to guess the impact she will have on the game at the moment, some early opinions can be constructed.

Note: Some aspects of this article are subjective and solely reflect the opinions of the writer

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Deadlock will not be a significant influence in the Valorant meta

The initial community reaction to Deadlock's release was similar to that of Gekko. Both Agents were hyped up when their abilities were revealed. However, the hype for Gekko died down in the following few weeks, and this will likely be the case for Deadlock as well.

Deadlock's abilities serve a niche purpose. They are highly effective in the lower ranks, where uncoordinated play and fast site executes are quite common. When properly piloted, the Agent can be a menace to opponents.

However, as players climb up the ranks, defaults, proper utility usage, and set plays become more common, rendering Deadlock far less effective.

It is hard to believe that Deadlock will have a significant impact on the Valorant meta, given her playstyle as an anti-rush Sentinel. She can be classified as a specialist who has uses in certain situations. However, her influence in the meta will be minimal, and a big shift cannot be expected.

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Will Deadlock see presence in Valorant pro play?

Professional Valorant players compete in various events to become world champions. The meta and playstyle in pro play are generally fixed, along with the team compositions on every map.

Teams tend to take a more default-centric approach, and fast site executes are properly planned with utility, precise movement, and spacing. There are some exceptions to this rule, such Paper Rex.

Due to the existing structure in pro play, Deadlock may not see a lot of presence in the upper echelons of Valorant. Some teams may try to fit her into maps such as Bind and Split as a possible replacement for Cypher. However, others may not take the risk, and this can affect Deadlock's stance in pro play.

In her current condition, Deadlock will likely not be a viable or must-pick Agent in the pro-play meta unless many teams completely transform their play style.