Chamber pick rate plummets on ‘first day’ of 2023 VALORANT season after nerfs

The era of Chamber dominance is over. Just one day into the new pro VALORANT season for 2023, the definitive agent of VALORANT esports last year is struggling to even retain relevance.

After the first day of the open qualifiers for the NA VALORANT Challengers League, Chamber is tied for dead last in overall pick rate among all agents, getting selected in only three percent of compositions along with Phoenix, Harbor, and Yoru across 462 maps played, according to VLR.gg.

But while Phoenix and Yoru have historically fielded low pick rates in pro play, and with most pro teams still figuring out how to use the newest controller Harbor, Chamber’s appearance this far down in the pick rate rankings is easily the most shocking of the group. And it’s not just in North America. Over the first few days of the Spain VALORANT Challengers League, Chamber has not been picked once in the first 10 matches.

This is certainly a result of the massive nerfs that hit Chamber in Patch 5.12, which saw the power of all four of his abilities get reduced. The nerfs reduced the slow duration of his Trademark and Tour De Force, reduced the firing rate of Tour De Force, and made Headhunter more inaccurate while spamming. But the biggest change was to his Rendezvous, replacing the two anchor method with just a singular anchor he teleports back to, drastically reducing the distance he can teleport away.

While many fans of pro VALORANT expected Chamber to relinquish his top spot on the agent pick rate rankings following his nerfs, it’d be hard to find anyone who expected this significant of a falloff. But it’s worth noting that we haven’t seen the top-tier partnered teams play this year, and these top teams may still use Chamber at a more regular rate.

Meanwhile, Killjoy has rocketed back up the rankings thanks to her Patch 5.12 changes, which saw her Nanoswarm and Lockdown ultimate abilities each get a health upgrade. After day one of the NA VALORANT Challengers League open qualifier, she leads the agent field with a 70 percent pick rate.