The recent Operator nerf in Valorant means serious changes to how the gun is used in-game. For the complete post-nerf Operator stats, make sure to check out our article here and here for the full patch notes! For now, let’s go over how to use the new Operator.

Riot Games’ reasons for these changes had to do with how reliable re-peeking corners in Valorant was. The suite of mechanical changes aims to increase counterplay against Operator players with high mobility.

Operator = Less Mobililty

One of the biggest changes to execute this is the reduced firing rate and the gun taking longer to become accurate after stopping. That makes re-peeking angles extremely risky if the player on the other side has a quick trigger finger. OP players now have to be more mobile and allow enough time after stopping to recover their accuracy properly. This also renders dash-and-stop Jett OP users much more ineffective than ever.

The new meta will likely be strikingly similar to CS:GO AWPing. OPers will have to hold corners and wait for the enemy to peek around it in order to have a chance at a kill. When spotted, it would be wise to move to a different corner but remember the time for accuracy recovery. The corner that is being held will have to be different every few rounds to keep from becoming predictable.

Since Jett can no longer reliably use her speed to make her a better OPer, the duty might go to an agent with less mobility in their kit, like Killjoy or Cypher. For the highest rate of success when peeking corners, have Breach or Phoenix flash before peeking.

What do you think of these new Operator strats? Are there some you would recommend that we missed? As usual, remember to follow us at Run it Back and join our Discord for all your latest news, extensive guides, and exclusive interviews in the world of Valorant.