VALORANT’s Episode Eight Act Three battle pass features plenty of neat goodies to work toward, with one in particular boasting a very interesting backstory.
If you’ve already checked out the battle pass for the new act, you might’ve seen the “Radiant Reaction” player card as the free reward on the fifth page. The artwork features Reyna swinging her katana in epic fashion, and at first glance, you might think it just looks like a cool scene out of a comic. But as it turns out, this moment comes from an unbelievable clip where a Reyna player destroyed a flying KAY/O knife with their katana.
Destroying a flying KAY/O knife before it lands is almost unheard of outside this instance. You already have to have quick reaction speed to shoot the knife when it lands on a surface before it activates and suppresses your abilities. So I can’t imagine swinging my melee right when KAY/O’s knife is coming at me at top speed. I didn’t even know it was possible to destroy a KAY/O knife before it landed.
For this to happen, you either have to coincidentally swing your melee at the right moment or have amazing reaction speed. That’s exactly why the card is called “Radiant Reaction.”
Upon finding out their clip had been turned into a card, the Reyna player talked about it in an April 30 Reddit thread and included the original clip from June 2023. The player woke up to the news and thought their friends were lying until they saw it for themself—and there’s no denying the art came directly from their clip based on all the details. One player even tracked down a Riot employee’s comment on the original post, proving the devs did see the phenomenal clip. Who would’ve thought they were saving it for a future battle pass?
When asked if they were compensated in any way, the player had a positive attitude and wholesome response: “I think the player card is already the compensation.” Others, however, chimed in with a cute suggestion for Riot to gift that player a rare Riot Buddy for inspiring artwork for such a cool player card. Riot Buddy or not, it must feel pretty awesome to have your clip turned into artwork that will forever be part of the game.
