Almost all of the agents in the VALORANT lineup have gotten some screentime at the first Masters event of the 2024 season, but the two left on the sidelines are very familiar with the feeling.
With just two best-of-five matches remaining at Masters Madrid, only Deadlock and Iso are still unpicked after 36 maps played. Sadly, this is not a new feeling for these two. Deadlock also went unselected at Champions 2023, though she had just been released a couple months before this event.
Iso and Deadlock have both been neglected all year, though. Iso has still yet to be picked in a single VCT match this year, with all four international league Kickoff events unfolding without an Iso appearance. Deadlock didn’t appear in the EMEA, China, or Pacific Kickoff but was a surprise addition to reigning champion Evil Geniuses’ Icebox composition during the Americas Kickoff, appearing in two maps.
While their appearances have been sporadic, even agents commonly regarded as afterthoughts in the pro scene, such as Reyna, Sage, and Harbor, have made it to the Madrid stage, though almost all the Harbor picks have been made by Paper Rex. Even Chamber, once the crutch for almost every pro team in 2022 but now fallen out of favor, got some playtime courtesy of FunPlus Phoenix.
Iso’s ability kit may be flashy and fun, but it doesn’t provide any of the value at the duelist role that a pro team is looking for. While Raze and Jett can create space, Iso is more of a tank that can only turn the tide of a round if you dry swing into him and feed him kills. Deadlock has struggled to be relevant with an ability kit that, at best, can tremendously slow down the opposing team, but there’s almost no scenario where she’s preferred over another sentinel agent.
On the opposite side of things, Viper is the most popular agent amongst pro teams right now. At Madrid, she has a 79 percent overall pick rate, with a 50 percent or higher rate on each of the seven individual maps.
