While VALORANT’s meta encourages creativity, some restrictive norms will always exist for certain situations. For example, what should Reyna buy in a pistol round—a Leer or an extra Soul orb? As per a team player’s code, most would vote for a Leer. But is it really the best decision in all cases?
A player named Deep_Current_5421’s Reddit post stirred up a discussion on Reyna mains who prefer not to buy a Leer in the first round. They also called out Reyna players who save up on Leer charges instead of using it to enter a site or take space, garnering a lot of support from the community’s most frustrated VALORANT support mains.
“Expecting a Reyna to play support is like expecting a toddler to file your income taxes,” the most popular comment under the post reads—and honestly, they aren’t wrong. I have had a lot of instalock Reyna players on my team running into sites without using a Leer, dying, and complaining why no one pushed with them. A bad Reyna player is, hands down, one of the most frustrating experiences in VALORANT ranked.
Interestingly, most players who commented under the post seemed to firmly believe that Reyna should always prefer buying a Leer instead of being selfish and opting for a self-healing charge. It sounds right, considering Leer is the only teamplay ability Reyna has to offer. But Reyna’s biggest strength lies in the fact that she’s selfish. And let’s not forget that Leer is one of the worst blind abilities in VALORANT.
If you ask me, Reyna should choose their abilities depending on the team composition. If there’s a second duelist on the team, she can get away with not buying a Leer in the first round. Instead, she can be selfish and invest in her overhealing ability, increasing the possibility of a clutch. I shouldn’t need to explain why having 150 overhealth is a huge advantage in pistol rounds. Then again, she should be able to capitalize on the advantage—not die whiffing or making a stupid play.
While she is only suitable for the mechanically gifted, VALORANT always calls for strategic executions—so please, Reyna mains, use your Leer when your team asks you to.
