Shroud claims Operator has "no place" in Valorant

As the Valorant weapon meta keeps developing at high-level of play, it seems the Operator, one of the snipers available in Riot's tactical shooter, has cemented itself as a must pick, and contrary to what you may believe, Michael "Shroud" Grzesiek is not a fan.

Is Shroud right in complaining about the Operator (Photo: Getty/Riot Games)

On his triumphant return to Twitch, Shroud has spent most of his stream time clicking heads in Valorant, however, it was clear the former CS:GO pro is not completely happy with the balance of the game, singling out the OP on his 13th August broadcast.

"This game would truly be a better game without them (snipers)," the 24-year-old said.

He would expand by explaining how unlike in CS:GO where every player has the same utility in the form of smoke grenades and flashbangs, players in Valorant are more dependant on specific abilities, with some Agents not suited to deal with the OP.

"We only have Omen, we have Jett I guess, kind of, we don't have any flashes. There's nothing to pressure and push Ops off of positions. So I think an Op has no place in this game because there's nothing to pressure it. You just have to hope they miss," explained Shroud

Shroud would feel the power of the Operator first-hand several times during his stream with one particular moment sending him off a cliff, prompting the usually chilled out streamer, to exclaim "f**k off with that s**t" as he got sniped.

"Goddammit... sorry. I hate it, I hate them so much, bro. I think everyone does in this game," an opinion that many Valorant players do indeed hold.

The Operator has proved controversial in Valorant, with the double OP meta reigning supreme in the esport. Whether Riot has any issues with, or plans to change this remains to be seen, but barring a nerf that would make the gun unrecognisable what exactly could you do.

An operator-less Valorant? Shroud can only dream.

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