Frosty future: Why VALORANT pros are dropping Sage in droves

Sage has been totally missing in action in the top VCT Challengers Leagues teams’ compositions of late, and there’s sound reasoning as to why. The healing hero lacks utility when compared to the other members in VALORANT’s catalog, and like Reyna before her, Sage might just be left in the dust as the 2023 season rolls on.

Teams like Fnatic, LOUD, and NAVI have chosen against Sage through the entirety of the EMEA and Americas League and the teams that did use Sage rostered her on sparingly.

Sage has been picked nine percent of the time so far in the Americas League, with four out of the eight maps in the competitive pool failing to accommodate her.

Throughout the entirety of the Pacific League, Sage has only been picked in six percent of professional matches. Sage still has legs in the EMEA League, racking up a 22 percent pick rate, but she remains one of the least-picked agents, according to premier VALORANT stats site VLR.gg.

Content creator DRX LotharHS shared a video on YouTube on May 3 detailing Sage’s woes in VALORANT pro play, pointing to the other shining agents as examples of what a solid support hero should be—and what Sage fails to be.

The primary issues, LotharHS said, stems from her pointless utility. While her healing might boost a VALORANT player back to their max health, her wall and slow orbs fail to provide the amount of support you could get from other picks.

Sage’s appearance on any map but Icebox showcases a team’s “strategic weakness,” according to LotharHS.

She does appear in Icebox compositions sometimes, but that comes down to her 400-credit wall ability. Placing this wall on the A or B bombsite prevents allies from being sprayed down while planting, and using it for retakes to defuse is its only viable option.

The VALORANT creator recommends players and pros alike instead use Harbor or Viper as superior alternatives. These heroes provide sufficient utility, while Sage becomes one-dimensional as soon as she uses her wall or slow abilities.

Sage’s ultimate might help bring a teammate back from the dead, but it won’t revive her stats in professional play. Ressurection in non-pro play is quite limited, as teams aren’t anywhere as cohesive as pro VALORANT squads. This leads to players being left out in the open, leaving Sage unable to use her ultimate.

We still have tons more VALORANT to see in the Americas League, so we’ll have to see if her pick rate gets a needed health boost or if she continues to fade away.