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When it comes to the weapons in Valorant, the biggest discussion has always revolved around which one is better to use. Is it the Vandal or the Phantom? Both weapons have their own strengths and weaknesses, and ultimately, the ideal choice will come down to the player's preference.
This article will highlight a few reasons why Valorant's Vandal might just be better than Phantom in 2024.
Disclaimer: This article is subjective and reflects the writer's opinion
Why does Valorant's Vandal outclass the Phantom in most scenarios?
Valorant's Vandal and Phantom are available at the same price of 2900 in-game credits. While the Vandal gives the players 25 bullets, the Phantom gives 30 in its magazine. Now, this does make it sound like picking a Phantom is more advantageous. However, that is not the case.
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The Vandal presents a unique advantage over the Phantom: its one-tap potential. With the ability to deal 160 HP headshot damage, players can instantly kill an enemy with a headshot. Additionally, the Vandal doesn't have damage falloff, which means this damage count does not change regardless of how the enemy is from the player. The same is not true for the Phantom, as it does a total damage of 156 HP to the head in a 0-15m range, 140 HP in the 15-30m range, and 124 HP in the 30-50m range. This makes Phantom a very risky weapon of choice in maps like Breeze, that mostly have long-ranged duels.
Vandal is the superior weapon if a player isn't confident in their aim and decides to go with body shots. This weapon does 40 HP damage to the body at any range, whereas the Phantom does 39 HP in 0-15m, 35 HP in 15-30m, and 31 HP in the 30-50m range. These stats show that Vandal will almost always kill an enemy with four body shots, whereas the Phantom might just end up requiring five or more bullets to do so.
Another reason that players should go for the Vandal is purely due to its potential in training a person's aim. The ability to headshot and kill an enemy instantly forces the player to aim precisely. With the Phantom, players may tend to spray a lot due to its fast fire rate and the inability to get a kill with a headshot at medium to long range. Hence, Valorant's Vandal is an amazing aim trainer.
One last thing to pick a Vandal over the Phantom is its skins. For some reason, Valorant's Vandal has received far better skins that are still popular years after their release. Whether it is the first-ever skin collection, Reaver, or last year's Araxys and Overdrive bundles, the Vandal skins have certainly been beloved by the community. A more recent example is Episode 8's Kuronami collection, which has a Vandal skin and is being heralded as one of the best skin bundles to be released in the game.
For the Phantom, there have only been a few that have become fan favorites. These include the Oni, Prime 2.0, Protocol, and one of the most unique skins in the game, Radiant Entertainment System.
Vandal's pick rate compared to Phantom in Valorant's VCT events
Now, picking a Vandal over Phantom is not just a thing for casual players, but it seems like the pros have taken a liking to it as well. In the Valorant Champions 2023 Group Stage, the Vandal saw a pick rate of 71% as opposed to Phantom's 29%. Likewise, in the Game Changers Championship 2023, Vandal had a pick rate of 49.09% over Phantom's 10% pick rate.
Something similar was also observed during the LCQ (Last Chance Qualifier) event that took place before Champions 2023. Here, every region seemed to prefer the Vandal over the Phantom, maintaining a minimum Vandal pick rate of 40%. Pacific and Americas' Phantom pick rates were less than 20%, and only the EMEA region had a Phantom pick rate of over 20%.
This shows that the top players in the world have also deemed Vandal the superior rifle in the game. It shows that when it comes to the best aimers in the world, they will always prefer the Vandal over the Phantom. Ultimately, the preference for Vandal or Phantom will always be subjective. However, by the looks of it, Valorant's Vandal might just be better than the Phantom.
For more information on other aspects of the game, check out Sportskeeda Valorant page.
