3 VALORANT agents have become Icebox must-picks after VCT domination

Champions Tour 2023: Americas League is days away from reaching the Grand Finals on May 28, 2023, and across the premiere event three VALORANT agents have already stood out above the rest on Icebox—and it’s not even close.

The two leading agents so far are Viper and Killjoy, with both standing strong with a 100 percent pick rate over the seven maps played. Coming in third is Sova, sitting pretty with a 93 percent pick rate, according to VALORANT stats tracking website VLR.gg. The remaining top agent’s list doesn’t spread far across VALORANT’s catalog of characters, with six cast members being left on a zero percent pick rate throughout Icebox’s playtime at the NA event.

So far this month, Raze, Breach, Neon, Fade, and Astra have been left out in the cold. This leaves only a few agents filling the five-player rosters’ gaps. At the bottom, Skye, Omen, and KAY/O are collecting dust with sub-20 percent pick rates.

It seems the VCT Americas League stars have been torn between using Harbor or Sage this competitive season. Both VALORANT agents have diverse sets of utility, with Sage in particular being a massive part of Icebox’s picks since the map’s release due to the use of her wall to plant and block off the tube in mid.

Harbor’s ultimate has the potential to clear almost the entirety of the A site, and his Cove ability essentially does the same job as Sage’s wall when planting. His High-Tide ability paired with Viper’s Toxic Screen can block off various choke points on either site.

While the battle between the two is fierce, Harbor has pulled ahead with a 57 percent pick rate compared to Sage’s 43 percent.

Pro VALORANT rosters seem to be tossing up whether to add a duelist to their selection of agents. Teams are either choosing between Jett, Omen, and KAY/O, with the inclusion of a duelist being the preferred choice. As the clear victor there, Jett currently sports a 71 percent pick rate compared to Omen and KAY/O’s 14 percent.

So, thanks to the VCT matches, our next Icebox lineup is set in stone—once it finally returns to the active map rotation.

At the time of writing, Icebox is among VALORANT’s excluded maps.

Update May 25, 12.49am: This article originally implied Icebox is available to play in VALORANT active map pools. It is currently in the Riot title’s excluded map section for Unrated and Competitive. We regret this error.