Biggest Buff to Odin and Operator Ever?
44sHighlights a controversial claim that the patch inadvertently buffed powerful weapons, sparking debate.
▶ Play Clip"Delivers solid, actionable advice on abusing the patch, though it includes a lengthy program plug."
The video analyzes the October 14th Valorant update, which increased cooldowns for initiators and controllers, and discusses how these changes affect gameplay, agent picks, and strategies. The creator explains how to adapt to the new mid-round pace, abuse the changes to gain a competitive edge, and highlights the impact on operators, sentinels, and specific agents like Sage.
The October 14th update aimed to reduce utility clutter but may have backfired, giving the biggest buff to Odin and operator players.
Initiators' cooldowns increased: Sova's recon, Fade's reveal, and KAY/O's knife now have 60-second cooldowns instead of 40. Controllers' smoke cooldowns increased by 10-15 seconds.
Longer cooldowns stretch out the mid-round, requiring better rotation and more efficient use of delay utility.
Defenders should hold utility longer (1 minute to 30-second mark) for late-round executes; attackers should use utility early to have it back for mid-round.
Bind a key to 'Show Teammates' utility in settings to see cooldowns, improving communication and coordination.
Longer cooldowns may lead to more double controller (e.g., Viper) and double duelist comps, as initiator players switch roles.
Yoru, Jett, and Raze are top picks despite nerfs because operator counters are weaker, giving them more freedom.
Rifles and SMGs have improved accuracy early in spray patterns, making multi-kill sprays easier.
Cypher's trips have a wind-up before tagging, and his camera has a longer cooldown and louder sound. Sage remains strong due to slows.
Sage is the highest win-rate agent in Immortal; her slows stall rushes and force slower rounds, aligning with the new pace.
The patch fundamentally changes the pace of rounds, favoring players who adapt their utility usage and timing. By understanding these shifts and leveraging strong agents like Sage, players can gain a significant advantage in ranked play.
What are the new cooldowns for Sova's recon, Fade's reveal, and KAY/O's knife?
60 seconds (up from 40).
00:52
How much were controller smoke cooldowns increased?
By 10 to 15 seconds.
01:04
What is the 'mid round' in Valorant?
The time between the opening of a round and the final commitment to a site, where defenders rotate and gather information.
01:42
What keybind setting helps you see teammates' utility cooldowns?
Bind a key to 'Show Teammates' utility in the UI tab of your binds.
03:12
Why are Yoru, Jett, and Raze top picks despite nerfs?
Because operator counters are weaker, giving them more freedom to play aggressively.
04:58
What change was made to Cypher's trips?
They now have a wind-up before tagging the enemy.
07:57
Which agent has the highest win rate in Immortal after the patch?
Sage.
08:52
Biggest buff to Odin/Operator
Highlights the unintended consequence of the patch, making it a key insight for players.
00:01Mid-round stretching
Explains the core pacing change that affects all strategies.
01:17Teammate utility keybind
A practical, overlooked tip that improves communication and coordination.
03:12Cypher gutted
Confirms a major nerf to a popular sentinel, impacting pick rates.
07:57Sage highest win rate
Provides data-driven evidence of Sage's strength in the new meta.
08:52[00:01] Valiant. The October 14th update aimed to reduce utility clutter and make the game less frustrating, but it may have backfired in some ways. In fact, pros say it's the biggest buff Odin and operator players have ever seen.
[00:13] immortal radiant level and coaching others to do the same, I know firsthand quickly is often crucial to climbing the ranks. Therefore, we must understand not
[00:25] only what the changes are, but also how they manifest in the game. That's why in these changes actually mean and how to abuse them to dominate your ranked games and even reach high elo. First off, the biggest changes in this update are
[00:38] looking to reach immortal, it's crucial to understand how this change will know, Riot has [music] increased cooldowns heavily for a lot of agents and especially hurting agents whose utility is used to take [music] space,
[00:52] execute, or retake areas of the map. Initiators have all had their cooldowns Silva and Faze reveal along with Ko's knife are now a 60-second cooldown instead of 40. And to add to this, controllers have also had their smoke
[01:04] cooldowns increased by 10 to 15 seconds. So apparently [music] everything's been up to immortal or radiant? The most crucial element to understand here is of the game and getting used to the different pace will allow you to rotate
[01:17] better and use delay utility more efficiently. All of which will lead to Longer cooldowns are going to stretch out the mid round because you're often preparing to execute a site. But wait, what do we mean by the mid round? Think
[01:30] something like this. You often start an attack round with an opening. For example, you try to rush AS5 or perhaps two to three teammates are looking for opening kills and trying to punish any enemy aggression. Often you're not able
[01:42] execute due to some kind of utility delaying your push such as sentinel on cooldown. And because of the cooldowns and delay, like sage of slow, you rotate into a B hit or cut noise and try to rehit the site. The time between
[01:56] your opening and your final commitment to an actual site is called the mid defenders are rotating or getting advantage or an information advantage. They're trying to figure out which site
[02:08] the attackers will hit. So, these recent cooldown increases to smokes and initiator utility will mean that you're either going to be adding an extra 20 seconds of waiting during the mid round or taking fights with no smokes and no
[02:20] these new mid round cooldown timings to our advantage? The first step is to adjust your own timings. So, for defense, we need to get used to holding our utility a bit longer in that 1 minute to 30 second mark as we're likely
[02:33] going to be dealing with more late round executes. And this is because people on these agents and try to entry sites in late round. And for attack, we must make sure that we're using our utility very early in the round when it makes
[02:46] rushes or duelist opening plays, and this allows our abilities to come back up earlier in the mid round. However, we must also get used to our teammates having fewer utility options available to us during the mid round. So, for that
[02:59] we do go [music] into an execute, we're aware of the crucial signature abilities and their cool downs. Luckily, there's a simple setting that can help us be more aware of our teammates util. Go into your binds and go to the UI tab. After
[03:12] easytouse key to the show teammates this keybind, you are at a disadvantage. This simple key significantly reduces conversations like, do you have a reveal? No. Or when's it up? 20 seconds.
[03:27] alt or whatever other key you bind it to, see that he doesn't have a reveal, and ask for the specific cool down. This simplifies communication a lot and is so useful when playing with no commerce and is a simple but overlooked tip that most
[03:40] these are always an opportunity to get ahead. But as we know, there's much more get serious about becoming a better player and finally rank up to your dream rank, my team of Radiant and BCT coaches are here to help. Inside the immortal
[03:54] room program, you'll follow a proven step-by-step process to help you gain 500 RR in 10 weeks, guaranteed or your money back. Many of her students gain even more ELO in less weeks. Take a look at these students who ranked up 500 to
[04:06] 800 RR in just 4 weeks. So, if you're finally ready to receive hands-on help struggling on your own, use the link down below to book a free assessment call with me or one of our coaches to see if we'd be a good fit. Now, [music]
[04:18] meta change, it's vital to know what kind of compositions and picks are worth investing your time into and which are going to help you dominate the ranked Q. As we discussed, many players are going to simply find these longer cooldowns
[04:31] that it's time for a role change. Additionally, it's worth noting that smoke cooldowns will likely lead to a second controller, such as Viper [music] being picked more often on certain maps. We're also seeing more double dualist
[04:43] comps as initiator players decide that they can just have more impact in higher Phoenix or Raina. But those are not the agents that I would personally [music] rank up. If you're considering a role change, I believe Yoru, Jet, Wayle, and
[04:58] currently at the top of the food chain, but probably not for the reasons that you think. These agents didn't receive any direct buffs. In fact, Yor and Wayle actually got nerfed. But with nerfs such as longer near sight range, less smokes,
[05:11] everything that used to counter an operator is now just slightly weaker. weaker, but it's going to be less prevalent due to possibly less players being nerfed overall. So, this means that you're going to have more options
[05:26] get out of some bad situations [music] punishing when it does hit you. Let's take a common peak for example. Bside is and potentially push B main with an operator, I now have some elements that
[05:40] update. For whatever reason, let's say the enemy team has a breach. The reach closer to the angle without getting stunned. I can also peak faster, limiting how much space they can take after the stun. Or let's say that I do
[05:53] get omen flashed. With a new range of 7 m on the near side, I'm now able to take as long as I stay semi-lose to the angle. The attackers might even land easier for me to get value out of this position anyway. Because with shorter
[06:07] attackers to close the distance on me when I am stunned and their window for shorter. So, even during the mid round, initiator utility is not back from cooldown, meaning I'm free to play more aggressive angles without the fear of
[06:20] stun. While this may not always be the case, as initiators still have other utility available to them, anyone who plays a lot of duelist will likely here and there thanks to these [music] changes. And if you are going to reach
[06:32] for immortal, you're always looking for every small little advantage you can experiment with a more aggressive play style as you can get away with riskier noting that in this patch, there have been some small changes to rifle and SMG
[06:46] more accurate and the rifles have more accuracy in the early part of their pattern much easier. While this isn't revolutionary, you should absolutely understand how this may affect your aim style. Spraying on multiple enemies that
[07:01] stronger and easier with this new update. For example, let's say you see an enemy peak out near a smoke during a sight execute. you're aware that another enemy could be hiding inside the same smoke. And so after spraying and killing
[07:14] the spray. If you're quick enough, you can continue your spray towards the Doing this is much easier now thanks to the latest patch. And spending even a few minutes per day practicing the new sprays in the range or deathmatch will
[07:27] the range, pick a wall, and improve your spray control by focusing on getting possible to the center. You simply need to drag down your crosshair while you right. You can also pick two of the practice spots. Spray the first and
[07:42] [music] your spray. This drill will also help you improve your spray transfers. stronger with this recent patch and you'll be able to get out of 1v2 this mechanic. Now, there's a small percentage of players that is silently
[07:57] affected by these recent changes. The sentinel mains in patch 11.8. Riot has Sentinel role. Specifically, Cipher has been completely gutted. His trips no wait for a wind up before tagging [music] the enemy. But not only that,
[08:11] effect, meaning it will be less punishing for duelist and less effective against movement abilities such as jets and ways dashes. And additionally, Cipher's camp has a longer cooldown and now plays a louder sound effect when it
[08:24] learn the sound cue and listen [music] for it in your ranked games. So, let's be honest, Cipher is probably going to be picked less. And with Vice having info taken away from her flash along with other nerfs to Sentinel utility
[08:37] should we actually play? Well, right now it seems like Veto and Sage are going to Sage is currently the highest win rate agent in Immortal both in EU and NA. Even though her wall has been nerfed, too, the strength of Sage in the ranked
[08:52] Q is all about her slows. Sage's ability to stall rushes forces the attackers to slowly is incredibly difficult as it requires baiting utility, passing information, and cohesion. So Sage's ability to completely stop rushes and
[09:06] force slower rounds combined with the longer utility cooldowns make her a Sage, a great tip is to focus on the timings of her slows when defending a site. While this has always been a core part of Sage's role in patch 11.8 A with
[09:20] longer cooldowns on execute utility, timing slows after the [music] attackers use their utility will now have a much greater impact on their ability to scale or rehit another site. And this applies to all delay utility, of course. So, to
[09:32] revolve around stopping rushes and forcing your opponents to play the mid complicated for the attackers than before. [music] Attackers will generally have less of a window to execute in late round due to waiting for cooldowns.
[09:46] [music] And defenders must match their delay utility to this new pace. So no applies to you. Additionally, be on the lookout for comp changes and see what alternative people come up with for meta picks such as a KO Silva ascent comp. Be
[10:00] you've played your chosen agent on the new patch. This way, you can make your own judgment on how you feel the agent has changed for the way that you play more guidance, you can join the Immortal Map program [music] using the link down
[10:13] Map program [music] using the link down below.
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