Riot Games decided to seriously shake up the meta, and the fans waited — in the new VALORANT update, we are waiting for the return of our favorite format and long-awaited edits on one of the most controversial initiators. The community has been asking for a long time to make the “Fight” mode more accessible, and now the developers seem to have listened to the feedback — now the 2v2 format goes beyond the “casters” and gets a full-fledged player selection queue.
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New 2v2 Fight mode: rules and features of player selection
This mode has proven itself well during the veto map at VCT tournaments, so Riot’s decision to make it publicly available looks as logical as possible. The rules, in principle, remained the same — we play up to 10 wins in rounds, forget about abilities and generally do not worry about the economy, choosing guns to your liking. Interestingly, all three profile locations will be in rotation — “Fight A”, “B” and “C”, but they won’t let you choose a specific one — if you’re lucky, random works.
Gekko changes in patch 12.03: new mechanics of Spheres and Mosh Pit
After Gekko was significantly cut in patch 11.08, the agent turned into an “invisible man” for the pro scene – in fact, at the start of VCT 2026 in the Pacific region and America, his peak rate dropped to zero. In Europe and China, however, the situation is no better — there he was chosen in less than 5% of cases, which clearly hinted at failure. The publisher apparently realized the scale of the trouble and decided to tweak the settings a little — now the rules of his skills have become more complete, and Gekko himself has more freedom in handling his Areas.
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Spheres — the selection time is now 20 seconds instead of the previous 15.
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Mosh pit — and here’s the cool thing: the puddle can now also be returned, just like the rest of the abilities.
Whether this will help Gekko break into the current meta is an open question, since the competition among the initiators is simply frenzied right now.
However, you won’t get enough of the dry numbers of buffs alone — it’s much more interesting to see how these edits have reworked the real state of affairs on servers and in analyst tables.
VALORANT 2026 Meta Analysis: Agent range list and VLR statistics
After the release of update 12.03 in Valorant, our “green” initiator received such a massive upgrade that it instantly showed up in the statistics of high-rank matches. Gekko’s selection rate has skyrocketed to an impressive 25-30% in the major leagues — this is especially noticeable on Bind and Split, where his utilities now seem to burn out opponents. After patch 12.03, Meta finally moved towards aggressive setups with a couple of initiators, where Gekko got along well with Cypher, creating unbearable conditions for protection. By the way, the players say with one voice: ulta has become many times more reliable in clutch moments, and the total peak rate of the initiator class has increased by 15% – VLR data.gg won’t lie for the first week.
If you look at the numbers (top 5,000 players, statistics for 7 days), then the distribution of popularity of the initiators now looks like this:
Initiator Statistics — Current Patch
The current shooting range of 2026, after all the edits, also looks different now: Gekko and Cypher deservedly burst into the S-shooting range — their versatility in pro games is off the charts right now. A-shooting range has been occupied by stable Kay/O and Skye, which are still good for aggressive intruders. But Fade and Brick have gone to the B-tier — the poor devils have noticeably sagged due to the latest nerfs on the duration of abilities. The list of agent levels in 2026, in fact, only confirms that the buffs of the “wall” and Gekko’s flash drives have turned it into a mandatory peak against any closed stacks.
The most interesting thing happens in the attack — Gekko’s peak rating reaches 35%, because his grenades now penetrate soft shelters, leaving no chance for campers. At the same time, Cypher seems to have returned to action due to synergy with duelists like Raises — her stretches and cells perfectly block attempts to retake.
Regarding forecasts, by the update on 12.04, the hype around Gekko is likely to subside slightly and settle at around 25%. However, we should expect a sharp demand for counter-peaks — teams will start taking Kay/O more often just to turn off all this insane amount of utilities. On the pro scene, for example, the same Sentinels at VCT 2026 Challengers are already chasing Gekko in 70% of their drafts — this radically changes the pace of the game, replacing boring standing on points with constant flash duels.
This shift towards total control forces the organizers to reconsider the technical side of the issue, introducing stricter rules for ecosystem participants.
VALORANT Esports Hub: MFA system and new features
For players from the Asia-Pacific region, the news is, let’s say, mixed — starting with update 12.03, Riot introduces mandatory multi-factor authentication (MFA). However, this will only affect those who have climbed above the Ascendant rank or have been seen sharing accounts — a harsh measure, but, apparently, necessary to combat boosting. On top of that, the Esports Hub has brought expanded statistics — now you can check the performance of players directly on the pages of their teams, which is very convenient for those who closely follow esports.
The pleasant updates don’t end there, because the first truly large-scale event of the season is already looming on the horizon, which will force fans not just to watch the matches, but to improve analytics for the sake of prizes.
Pick’ems Masters Santiago 2026 Guide: Awards and Predictions
Before the twelve strongest bands on the planet converge in Santiago in the battle for this year’s debut VCT trophy, Riot Games decided to give us some excitement. The Pick’ems system is coming back — it’s, frankly, the best way to test your intuition and at the same time acquire rare inventory, which will later become a fat reminder of the tournament.
Starting from February 19, by the way, it will be possible to fly into a special esports section directly in the game’s client or go to the VCT Pick’EMS portal to set your predicates. The publisher has prepared a whole pack of awards — and it all depends on how deeply you understand the current form of the teams.:
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Participation in Pick’EMS — everyone who just sends their predictions will take away the memorable title of Cachando Todo.
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Top 50% of analysts — for those who guess at least half of the outcomes, the keyring of the ¡Rico, po! Gun Buddy will fall.
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Top 20% of the best — the elite of forecasters will get the “golden” version of this keyring — ¡Rico, po! Golden Gun Buddy.
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Perfect grid — for those who create a miracle and never make a mistake, there is an exclusive “perfect” title.
VALORANT Masters Santiago itself will take place between February 28 and March 15 — there is, in fact, plenty of time to prepare for the viewing. It is clear that the broadcasts, as usual, will be live on Twitch and YouTube, so prepare for sleepless nights if you want to see the triumph of the best of the best live.
