Cloud9 Blue’s Raze and Phoenix main, Skyler “Relyks” Weaver, has released a YouTube video in which he explains his thoughts, backed by evidence, on the recent Phantom and Vandal run and spray tactic as showcased by his teammate, Tyson “TenZ” Ngo. However, we find his deadzone accuracy exploit to be a much larger problem than that of the Phantom’s running and spraying accuracy.

Deadzone Accuracy

The deadzone, in Valorant and CS:GO, is a time window during counter-strafing when you have built up maximum speed and then suddenly change direction (usually sideways). While starting to move in the opposite direction, the deadzone allows you to shoot with maximum accuracy, hence the technique of counter-strafing being born in CSGO, and being carried over to Valorant. In the video, Relyks shows us how big of a time frame Valorant has for the deadzone, allowing it to be exploited to a large extent.

In Patch 0.50, they changed the deadzone from 25% to 30%. Now, what that basically means is that you are in a fully accurate state as long as you’re moving at, or under, 30% of the max movement speed. And that actually presents a couple of problems.

Relyks then goes on to showcase how this can be exploited in Valorant. Firstly, he shows us how this can be used in AD strafing. AD strafing involves pressing the side movement keys A and D, rather quickly while shooting.

If I was to sit here and AD back and forth like this, I can be extremely accurate, and at the same time I don’t ever have to stop strafing. You can sit here and AD back and forth and spray, and as long as you’re at or under the 30% max movement speed, you’ll have accuracy like this.

The AD strafing tactic seems to be already something that can exploited to a large degree by everyone. However, Relyks then goes on to show us an even bigger problem that Valorant has because of this.

You’re actually better off firing after you begin moving in the opposite direction than firing when you come to a complete stop. As long as you are at 30%, or less of the maximum movement speed, you’ll still be accurate. What this means is that you can strafe from out of cover and begin firing as you’re strafing back to the cover and you pretty much receive no penalty. You’re harder to hit because you’re moving and you’re still accurate.

Finally, Relyks does admit that the Phantom is the biggest culprit as it’s “way more consistent due to its lower spread and recoil, even with the faster rate of fire.”

Towards the end of the video, Relyks admits that in his eyes, it’s the deadzone in Valorant that is the most problematic in its current state, as it is lowering the skill ceiling. Because of that, the game is a little more accessible for newcomers to the genre. However, Valorant is an esport. That entails that the skill ceiling has to be high to separate the amateurs and pros.

We are yet to see a response from Riot about the deadzone accuracy in Valorant as highlighted by Relyks. As always, we’ll keep you up-to-date.

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