VCT LOCK//IN: Top 5 most-picked Agents of Alpha and Omega stages

The first stage of VCT 2023 - LOCK//IN is done, and four teams have made the playoffs. After the first 36 played maps in Sao Paulo, we prepared a list, and some agents headlined the tournament with high pick rates. Most are still among the top five most-picked agents, with one exception. Let’s cut to the chase and look at the top five most-picked VALORANT Agents of the first stage in Brazil!

Killjoy

Unsurprisingly, Killjoy is still the most-picked Agent of the tournament. She remains by far the most useful Agent in the current meta. Last time we talked about her effectiveness on both ends and it looks like teams still rely heavily on the Sentinel.

She is not the most favorable pick on Split and Fracture, with a 20% and 42.8% pick rate respectively. She might still counts as one of Fracture's “okay” picks, but the professional teams didn’t choose her in most Split games. Pearl and Lotus are two maps in which Killjoy is effective, with 66.6% and 68.7% pick rates. The main difference between these two stats is that Pearl was played 15 times while Lotus was picked almost as half at 8 times. Out of 24 possible presences, Killjoy was the go-to pick 20 times on Haven with 83.3%. Another map with 20 Killjoy picks is Icebox but this time, out of 22. She is the second most-picked agent on Icebox and holds a 90.91% pick rate on the map.

Nothing has changed since our first most-picked agents article. At the end of the tournament, we are sure that Killjoy will stay at the top as the most-chosen VALORANT Agent. Right now, she has a pick rate of 68.46%. Even though Cloud 9 are out of the race, Nathan "leaf" Orf still has the best Rating on KJ with 1.70.

Jett

Jett has been closely following Killjoy since the beginning of the event. It looks like the Agent is back to her glory days, maintaining a 58.46% pick rate. We have seen teams like Karmine Corp playing without a Duelist, but the majority still favors picking them up, especially Jett. Fnatic’s Nikita "Derke" Sirmitev is having the time of his life on Jett, upholding a 1.35 rating in 118 rounds.

The latest map in the rotation, Lotus, is the least favorite place for Jett players. Until now, she was only picked in 12.5% of the matches. Fracture is another map that is not favoriable for Jett, and other picks like Raze or Neon seem to be a better option for most teams. Jett was only chosen in 21.4% of the Fracture matches so far. She is an “average” pick for Split, and teams picked her in 40% of the games until today. This is also due to other Agents being more effective on the map, and sometimes Split requires different tactics on both ends. Jett is a solid pick for Icebox, Pearl, and Haven, with 63.6%, 70%, and 75% pick rates respectively. However, Ascent seemse to be most appropriate map for the agent. Out of seven Ascent games and 14 possible pick scenarios, all the teams preferred her and let their Duelist players fly around the map throwing knives at the opposing team.

Jett is the most-picked Duelist right now and is expected to stay that way in the upcoming matches.

KAY/O

Surprisingly, KAY/O is the only newcomer to the list, taking Breach’s place in our latest article. After some time, teams adapted more to the robotic Agent and implemented them to their play styles. KAY/O’s knife is a very valuable ability, and after teams saw that it works so well, it placed third on our list with a 44.6% total pick rate.

KAY/O’s weakest map is Haven by far, with a 12.5% pick rate. Following Haven, it is also not the most favorite agent on Lotus and Icebox, with 31.2% and 31.8%. KAY/O’s real value starts with its help on Split, as 40% of the teams chose the Initiator. Pearl and Fracture are the other two maps that KAY/O is very useful, with 53.3% and 64.2% pick rates, respectively. However, KAY/O is by far the strongest agent on Ascent. It is an indispensable pick alongside Jett, as all the teams have chosen it at every chance. Just like Jett, KAY/O also holds a 100% pick rate on Ascent. Ethan "Ethan" Arnold holds the best rating with a 1.80 rating, but he only played 21 rounds with the agent, while Pontus "Zyppan" Eek is still in the race and holds a 1.33 rating with KAY/O in 117 rounds.

KAY/O is an important Initiator thanks to their knife and flashes; however, we might also see different picks from the playoff teams as they are not indispensable for all the current maps.

SOVA

Sova has moved one place down after KAY/O’s impressively ascending graphic in Sao Paulo. However, he still is among the five most-picked Agents by the best players playing the game professionally, with a 43% pick rate.

Let’s be honest here, Sova is a useless pick on Split and Fracture. There are multiple better options than him, which is also obvious from the chart above. Neither team played Sova on both maps and chose other Agents instead. Professional players consider Sova a “meh” pick on Pearl and Lotus, with 23.3% and 25% pick rates respectively throughout the event in Brazil. He was one of the five Agents in 54.1% of the matches on Haven and 78.4% of the Haven games. However, Icebox is the best map to use Sova efficiently, with a 95.4% pick rate. He is a great pick for both Attack and Defense.

Sova has the ability to gather intel and find enemy positions with his arrow and drone. He has always been one of the top picks since the game’s release and holds his position down firmly in Sao Paulo. Despite Team Liquid’s poor performance, Igor "Redgar" Vlasov is still leading the race with a 1.34 rating on Sova. Leo "Leo" Jannesson is one of the few players in playoffs, and his 1.23-rating Sova performance so far has helped his team a lot.

OMEN

Omen holds their place from last time. They are again the fifth most-picked Agent in the tournament despite the changing pick-rate percentages. The Smoker was the go-to pick for 40% of the matches.

Pearl and Icebox are not the best places for Omen, with 6.67% and 13.6% pick rates. Split and Fracture are also at the bottom of the list for Omen, as only 20% and 21.4% of the teams have selected the Agent there respectively. On the other hand, Haven is a solid pick for the Agent, and teams in Sao Paulo picked them up in 70.8% of their matches. However, Lotus and Ascent seem to be the go-to maps for using Omen. The agent holds an 81.2% pick rate on Lotus and 85.7% on Ascent. On top of its main smoke duties, Omen's playmaking capability makes the Agent an efficient pick on both maps. Kirill "ANGE1" Karasiow is a real maestro on Omen with a 1.52 rating throughout the tournament.

If you want to look at detailed stats of LOCK//IN, check the events page. Don’t forget to check our VCT 2023 Hub for everything you want to know regarding this year’s VALORANT competitive circuit!